A New Day
by Helen Pattskyn
Summary: POST EXIT WOUNDS; set w/in context of what I've been writing here, but more than just more fluff some fluff included of course. Real plot line involving OC from Ianto's life before Torchwood, when he was 'drifting.' More inside
1. Chapter 1

**A NEW DAY...**

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Exit Wounds Spoilers -- !

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**Synopsis:**

Jack, Ianto and Gwen are moving on, starting over as Cardiff puts itself back together after the events of the last few days... which makes this possibly the worst time for someone from Ianto's past to crop up, looking for a place to crash while she "sorts a few things out." But how can he refuse someone who put him up, fed him, took care of him, when he didn't have two pence to rub together?

The question is: is it really a coincidence that right after Wendy shows up, there's new trouble brewing in Cardiff...?

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A/N:

**_A New Day_** takes place in the context of the Jack / Ianto fluff I've already written (after ch. 4 of _The End is Where we Start From, _in _Short Stories _also on this site).

_**A New Day** _is definitely more than just fluff, it has a real storyline and everything (hence the **M-Rating**) ;-) There will still be Jack / Ianto fluff, especially at the start because they're both coming off of the conversations in my last story -- and where RTD left them -- and also becuase I like Jack / Ianto fluff! :-)

If you really aren't into fluff and don't want to read a few thousand words of drabble that I've previously written about Jack and Ianto, don't sweat it – nothing there was so vitally important that anyone would feel lost here for having skipped it – and I recap it a little in the opening chapter anyway, via Ianto's thoughts about the last few days.

**But major thanks to everyone who has read and responded positively! Writers' egos and all that… seriously, HUGE THANK YOUs all the way around!**

The usual disclaimers apply, I don't own Torchwood or Jack or Ianto (but if RTD would like to lend Jack and Ianto out, I wouldn't mind playing with them at my house – I promise not to leave marks…. !) I'm not making any money here – in fact, I think my husband would argue that I'm wasting good electricity and hours I could/should be spent sleeping and/or studying or possibly engaging in this mysterious activity known as housework...

I will try for regular updates, but I've got another fic that I'm wrapping up, so please be patient... I tend to write, edit, and post, rather than writing a complete story and then posting it as a whole... and please also, if you like what you've read, don't forget to feed the writer's on your way out... :-) likewise, if I butcher the spelling of something, let me know! I have also been known to take ques from regular readers who would rather see a little more of this or a little less of that...

this story is **rated M.** I tend to err on the side of caution, both in my writing and how I rate my writing -- I don't do graphic descriptions of violence or sex -- not that neither will happen, but sometimes less really is more and I give you credit for being able to imageine certain things better than I could write them anyway (I think we all have our own interperations of what all one can really do with a stopwatch...) However, we all know that Jack is a sexuaul being and working for Torchwood means dealing with aliens that sometimes want to eat your head for breakfast, so I'd rather start out rating my work on this one as "M" rather than starting out lower and changing later on if the Muses start dancing on my head and something harsher than I'm comfortable giving a "T" rating comes out.

If you consider yourself mature enough to be watching the show, you're mature enough to be reading this. Remember, this DOES take place after Exit Wounds. If you havne't seen it, reading this WILL spoil the ending.

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**Chapter One:**

**Moments**

Weary to the bone but glad he hadn't left Jack alone last night, Ianto pulled up in front of his building and parked. He looked around – not at anything in particular, just taking it all in, in the twilight gloom… _the day after the day after the day that changed everything... _forty eight hours... it was hard to believe it had only been forty eight hours... harder still to believe that in another couple of months he'd come up on his two year anniversery with Torchwood 3... some days it felt as if those two years had flown by, others it seemed as if he'd spent a whole lifetime here... maybe two...

A little twinge of guilt still niggled at the back of Ianto's brain when he thought about the way he'd weaseled, lied and stalked his way into Torchwood 3… _I could do anything, man the desk – make coffee – _

_Tea boy... _Ianto wiped the fresh moisture from his face… _nothing but a **tea boy**… _Owen's words stung for different reasffons now… he never would have expected to miss Owen, not like this… on the way here, Ianto seen the back of a man's head in the crowd and almost pulled over convinced it was Owen -- they hadn't found any remains, it **_was_** possible… _trick of my mind…_ Ianto was still telling himself. When somebody died you started seeing them in the crowd… he hadn't pulled over. Accosting a stranger in the street would not be a good way to end anyone's day, especially his. Everyone in Cardiff had been through so much already… the latest news had the death toll up to eleven hundred and ninety three… eleven hundred and ninety _five_… Owen… Tosh… the newspapers wouldn't report them, wouldn't even know – no one would…no one would ever know the things he knew... it was for the best. Who would want to know what he knew about the world in which they lived? _Ignorance is bliss... _

But what he'd said to Jack – an echo of the Captain's own words to him – how if he'd been anywhere else, done anything else, he wouldn't have seen what he'd seen or loved the people he'd loved… love... was it love...? What was love anyway? What did it mean to say to someone "I love you" --? How long had Tosh loved Owen and never said anything...? (And how pointless had it been anyway...?)

_But you keep me warm at night too, Jack Harkness… _he thought fiercely, wiping more tears from his face. _As emotional as a woman..._ his mother to chid... boys weren't supposed to cry... it didn't matter. All that mattered was that last night, curled up with Jack, it had had really felt like – _like there really __**is **__going to be a tomorrow and a tomorrow after that and one after as well…_it had felt likehere really was where they went on from_… _

It had taken Ianto hours to get Jack to come to bed with him – even so, Jack barely slept. Every hour or so he'd jolt upright, gasping for breath (even though he'd been breathing just fine in his sleep), clutching around wildly for the lamp on the bedside-table, desperate to turn the lights on. Twice he'd sent the lamp crashing to the floor – finally broke under the abuse. Ianto got out of bed and turned on the overhead lights quickly (he had a nasty gash on his foot for his troubles, stepping on broken glass… but like everything else it would heal in time… it was the wounds that didn't leave marks Ianto was the most concerned about now… )

The dark reminded Jack too much of those nineteen hundred and twenty four years… He needed light – sound – warmth – so Ianto held him – talked to him – stayed with him until he slept again – the he bandaged his foot and went to find another lamp for the next time Jack woke up as if from the dead, gasping for air, his heart racing, panicked because it was dark, quiet… Leaving the light on didn't help, but after a while, Ianto did it anyway. The light – the radio – anything to help Jack wake up a little easier the next time… it had been a rough night for both of them… It still hadn't surprised him to find Jack not there when morning finally came.

But at least this time he'd left a note. Ianto smiled – he'd tucked it in his pocket and looked at it several times through out the day, any time he got afraid that Jack might have gone away again for good…

.

_Ianto – no, I haven't run off to the edge of the universe again – too many cannibals. I just needed some fresh air – you don't have to be in today – take some time. Get some rest. I know you didn't get any last night._

_Thanks for being there. _

_See you tomorrow – or maybe the next day. Take what you need, I can handle the hub for a day or two._

_XO_

_Jack._

.

XO.

Kiss and hug.

_**Definitely** _out of character for Jack… _but what had nineteen hundred and twenty four years done to him…? _Ianto knew what twenty four hours had done to _him_ – he couldn't imagine it from Jack's prospective – he didn't want to…

He didn't go home, either. He didn't take the any time or get any rest – he wasn't sure he would have known how to, even if he'd wanted to leave the hub. He supposed that he kept hoping that Jack would come back in, see that he was there – and – and then what? Even Ianto didn't know what he'd wished for, but he'd stayed anyway because leaving felt wrong.

He spent some time monitoring rift activity – it was strange sitting at Tosh's station. Even with her personal affects packed away in storage, he still expected her to come in and be cross with him for muddling up her area – she hated having her station touched, even if it was just a quick tidy-up…. _but I have to stop thinking of this as **her** station,_ he'd told himself a hundred times. _Eventually there's going to be someone else sitting here_ – that felt wrong too, but Ianto kept telling himself that life moved on. It had to. _Just look at Jack… _

After determining that it was really a quiet morning, that nothing huge and nasty had popped up out of the rift over night, that the city was safe, Ianto went downstairs and fed the 'residents' in the basement. Cleaned up after them. Made sure the security system was working properly. He even did a quick mop up of the hallway, suddenly wishing they could hire a janitor or something, just someone to do the mopping up and dusting… _Christ, how would __**that**__ want ad go…? _It amused him to think about it while he worked.

Then he did an inventory in the medical bay, mostly as an excuse to force himself to be there… Tosh...

Gray in the 'freezer'... he couldn't fault Jack for that, though, he'd searched his whole life and then...

And then Ianto found himself wanting to break down again so he re-read Jack's note, and imagined that he could see the smile Jack must have been smiling when he'd written the first few lines. He told himself that Jack would be back soon.

He shook himself off and give himself another job to do.

Paperwork.

Rift activity.

Systems check.

Tidying up Jack's quarters.

He made the bed – picked up the dirty socks. He wasn't quite sure what Jack did about his laundry – it was hard to imagine Jack at the corner Laundromat…

But it was good to be around his things. His scent.

_My Captain… _

It was late in the day when it occurred to Ianto to wonder if Jack had bothered to call Martha yet… she'd want to know… UNIT should be notified… but Martha, personally, would want to know… Tracking down the number was easy enough – it took a few connections to get to her department – finally he had her on the phone and for a few seconds he didn't know what to say – she sounded pleased to hear from him – so she must not know – of course she'd heard about what had happened in Cardiff and of course UNIT wanted to know what had _really _happened in Cardiff, but no, Jack hadn't contacted her personally, why… so it was left to him to tell her, to find the words, to try to give an official sounding report –

"Oh, Ianto – I'm _so_ sorry – do you need me to come down for a few days – ?"

"That – that's really Jack's decision – "

"Yeah – of course – he probably wouldn't want to admit that he needed the help," she seemed to laugh, just a little, "But –if you need _anything_ – you or Jack or Gwen – if you need me for any reason – you just call. London's only two hours away – I can be there in a tick."

"Thanks, Martha – I should go – I think Jack's finally back – "

"All right. I'm – I'm really sorry – "

_She'd barely known them… but sometimes that's all it took… _"Thank you for – everything," _for offering to come, no questions asked..._he hung up just as Jack came in, carrying a couple of grocery store sacks.

"Ianto – you're still here – "

"You sound surprised," Ianto found himself forcing a bit of a smile, wondering if he'd made the right call when he decided to stay... what if Jack didn't want him here – maybe he wanted to be alone… maybe that's the real reason he'd had gone out – stayed out –

"Didn't you get my note?" Jack's tone was hard to read into – "I told you to take the day – get some rest – "

"I – I had work to do," Ianto forced another weak little smile. "I was just finishing up really – I ah – I spoke to Martha – "

"I was going to call her tonight," Jack's tone was flat. Cool. Distant...

_Stupid… _but there was no changing what he'd done. "She said that if you needed anything – she'd be here."

Jack just nodded and walked towards the kitchen. Ianto followed; he wasn't ready to go home, especially not if Jack was really angry with him..._even if it's that I'm still here..._ if Jack wanted space, he would say so.

"You cleaned," Jack observed.

"I ah – I just tidied up a bit, no big deal – " he'd scrubbed the sink – cleaned the counter – mopped – he'd stopped himself short of actually polishing the silver (it wasn't silver anyway, it was stainless)… nervous cleaning his mother had called it… "I – erm – I picked up your quarters a little too – I didn't mean to intrude. I'm sorry –"

Jack frowned.

"I'm sorry –" Ianto said again.

"You don't have to apologize - it's just that you didn't have to do it."

"I didn't mind. I cleaned up downstairs a little, too – did some inventory – just – " _just to keep myself busy so I'd be here when you got back… _was he really **_that_** pathetic…?

Jack gave him a long, measured look. Ianto wasn't sure what to make of it, of the way Jack was acting like he expected – something. "You want to stick around for dinner?" Jack asked suddenly, in a deceptively light tone. "Some of Jack Harkness's galaxy famous chili?" he began pulling ingredients out of the bag.

"You cook?"

"I'm full of all sorts of surprises – thought you knew that by now," Jack gave him one of those wicked smiles – but Ianto could see a world of underlying emotion – he couldn't name them all, but he knew that Jack was – pretending – no, maybe not pretending, maybe just – sorting through –

Ianto smiled anyway. They were both sorting through, trying to figure out where to go from here... _the end is where we start from…_ _but what are we supposed to __**do**__?_ He wondered silently. He would have asked, but looking at Jack, he wasn't so sure Jack had any answers either…_now we carry on_… we clean up, make chili, eat dinner...

Ianto stepped a little closer and found Jack's hand – neither of them made any kind of habit of little gestures, but he remembered the way Jack had touched him yesterday…_was it really only yesterday…? _he reached out, cupped Jack's face with his other hand – and Ianto knew it was exactly the right thing to do. Jack leaned into his touch – leaned forward – his kiss was full of so much emotion – turmoil – need – it was a long, _long_ while before they parted lips again and when they did, Jack just looked at him with that same expectant look he'd been giving Ianto since he came in.

"What?" Ianto finally asked.

"You're not even going to ask me, are you?"

"Ask you what?"

"Where I was all day – "

"If you wanted me to know, you'd tell me," Ianto answered him simply; he leaned in again and gave the other man another soft kiss.

………………………………………

_Ianto looked over at Jack in the semi-darkness of the office… __**not bad for your first time…?**__ Ianto smiled a little despite everything going through his mind… it had been a lot better than just not bad… who would have thought that certain positions were even possible, at least not without fancy equipment – but what Jack could do with a desk and a chair… _

_Jack slipped his shirt back on – his trousers – Ianto realized that Jack was watching him as intently as he was watching Jack._

_Ianto pulled himself up – found his shorts – his pants, "This ah – this isn't going to change our working relationship, Sir," he assured his boss._

"_I know – but for the last time, would you drop the 'Sir'?" Jack asked with a wicked smile that made Ianto blush, "Unless of course you're into that sort of thing…"_

……………….…………..

Ianto had been determined that nothing was going to affect his ability to work with Jack, least of all their 'dabbling' (especially since he wanted to do it again and he was fairly certain that the best way to get sacked would be to start carrying on like some starry-eyed lover. What went on after the others went home wasn't anybody's business…)

Even after last night – yesterday… _nineteen hundred and twenty four years_…. everything had changed, but certain things were not going to change even if it was only the three of them left… Ianto resisted the urge to give into the tightness in his gut, the pain that had brought him to tears more than once today. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Jack again, gently…_all we really have is each other… _and Jack had done what he'd promised, he'd left a note, he hadn't just taken off without a word – _besides, if he wanted a wife to nag at him, he'd get married…_ unless Jack wanted to be asked…?

Ianto mulled that thought over while he unpacked the grocery bags, sorting their contents into piles (with Jack watching but not offering assistance – not that it took much assistance to unpack grocery bags.) Canned goods went in one pile, largest in the back, smaller ones up front so one could see what there was – Ianto ended up dividing the canned goods again as he was fairly certain Jack didn't intend to put sardines into his chili, he must've picked those up for later (he liked sardines on toast – apparently it was something he'd learned to eat during the war; Jack would also say that no one who liked marmite as much as Ianto did had any room to complain about a few sardines… Ianto had to concede that he might have a point.) Dry goods went into another pile (hopefully none of that was headed for the pot) – produce – meat – Jack had procured enough food to feed an army – or at least make dinner for five… although the silence that had settled between them wasn't uncomfortable, Ianto felt the need to say something anyway:

"I'm not very clever in the kitchen myself – you saw that for yourself yesterday."

"Oh, I don't know; I think you could be clever in the kitchen if you wanted to be," Jack leaned in so close Ianto could feel the warmth of his breath on the back of his neck.

It would be entirely too easy to forget all about dinner… but he doubted Jack had eaten anything today and he hadn't done more than pick. "So – what did you do all day?" Ianto asked very carefully, in as neutral a tone as he could muster (just in case he was wrong about Jack wanting him to ask.) "Besides buy out the corner market, that is," Ianto added with a bit of a smile. He'd come to the end of the last sack and there was definitely enough food to feed an army.

Jack returned his smile, although his tone wasn't cheerful: "I walked."

"Anywhere in particular?"

"Not really." Jack rolled up his sleeves – asked Ianto to get down a cutting board while he washed his hands – he looked perfectly at ease in the kitchen. Relaxed… "I'll need a pot too – no – the big one – "

"Bigger isn't always better you know," Ianto couldn't resist the urge to tease him.

"That isn't what you said before," Jack teased right back; Ianto could see some of the weight lifting from him again. Ianto continued to smile and got down the pot Jack had asked for; he leaned back against the counter where Jack had been leaning just a few moments ago and watched Jack go to work, slicing garlic and then onions. The way his hands moved – quick – clean – efficient – it was a bit before Jack spoke again, his tone a little distant. "I walked all over Cardiff today – I saw repair crews out – police – fire – it's still bad out there."

Ianto nodded. "I caught the news," he'd been monitoring all of the city's emergency frequencies – watching the news – even CNN was carrying the story – at least part of the story. No one but the two of them – Gwen – Rhys – nobody else knew what had really happened – it didn't matter…_ they_ knew. _They _would remember. Ianto touched Jack's arm – he was rewarded by a flicker of a smile – he returned it. Just a silly little gesture, the kind that they'd hardly ever indulged in before… suddenly it felt so natural, just to be standing here, next to Jack, watching him cook… "Should I call Gwen and Rhys – see if they want to come over – ? We've certainly got enough food there – " and for half a second it almost seemed – normal. One couple asking another over for dinner on a whim – it was almost a little insane really – except that right here in the kitchen, with the smell of browning beef and sausages, onions and garlic – with Jack smiling – it was almost possible to forget that they weren't in some cozy little flat somewhere, that they were underground and they had a pterodactyl – weevils… Tosh in the morgue… Owen… they couldn't even give him a drawer…

But Jack didn't bring any of that up, "That's not a half bad idea – " he said in a light tone that made Ianto think he might be having similar thoughts – a moment of normality in the insanity of their lives.

"I ah – I was thinking – I could – stick around – just for a couple of days," Ianto said quickly (maybe a little too quickly) before he lost his nerve.

"I'm really old enough that I don't need a babysitter, Ianto."

"I know that."

Jack gave him another one of those long, measured look – then just when Ianto was sure he was going to say 'no' – "This needs about an hour to simmer anyway – why don't I give Gwen a call while you head home and pick up a few things – ? Can't have you walking around in the same shirt – there's no telling what – " he stopped himself there – Ianto knew what he was going to say though, _the others…_ but there were no others, there was just the three of them now… "No telling what Gwen'll think," Jack finished in a more subdued tone.

"I won't be long. You need me to pick up anything on my way back in? Another bottle of wine, maybe? Or maybe some beer – beer and chili – classic combination – " he forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood back to what it had been a moment ago.

"Sounds good," Jack gave him a quiet sort of smile – Ianto leaned in – it was just a soft sort of kiss – ordinary – it fit the moment...

……………………………………………..

And maybe if Ianto hadn't been so distracted by everything that had happened today – yesterday – the day before – if he'd been paying more attention to the here and now, he would have realized sooner that something was amiss before he stepped into his flat…


	2. Chapter 2

**A New Day…**

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**A/N**

When I was writing another fanfic "cast" some of my original characters with actors (seeing as this is based on television and I usually have a real person in mind for the physical appearance of my characters anyway.) I've decided to carry on the tradition here, at least with the most important characters. So imagine if you will the lovely Gina Torres as Wendy Shutten… Torres has played in a number of movies/series, including Serenity and Firefly. The character of Wendy is inspired in part by my own dear friend who has had a number of "couch guys" in her life – strangers she's allowed to crash on her sofa without a whole lot of questions asked…

Hope you enjoy, please remember to feed the writer's ego on your way out… ;-)

THANK YOU for those "story alerts" -- makes me feel good to know folks are interested in knowing when I update. :-) Next update will probably take a little longer... I have finals in two weeks, but then it's off for the summer with lots of time to write...

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**Chapter Two:**

**From Out of the Past**

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Ianto opened his door and pocketed the keys – and noticed that the television set was on. If he'd been paying attention, he would have heard it from the hallway… cursing at himself for making the kind of stupid mistake that could get him killed, he took half a step back into hall… but honestly, what sort of alien (or even run of the mill burglar) would be sitting in his flat watching telly?

No – not watching – they were asleep, curled up on his sofa, under the comforter that he usually kept at the end of his bed for chilly nights… all he could make out from where he stood was a stray bit of long curly dark hair – the sounds of easy breathing – the sound of his own heart thumping in his ears…

There was a cup on the coffee table – an empty biscuit tin. An old army surplus duffle bag sat on the floor, next to the sofa… he was sure he recognized it – the patches sewn on – the badges pinned to the strap – _it can't be… _his mind refused to acknowldege what he was seeing... _it just - **can't** be... _he stepped back into his flat. Light from the TV screen flickered across dark skin of her face – high cheek bones – _but it __**can't**__ be,_ he told himself again (even if logically there was no reason it couldn't be, it just – couldn't be – not after five years – not today. Not today of all days – not _now_… why now?)

Ianto pushed the door shut loudly enough to wake the woman up – "Wendy?" he said, still expecting to blink and find her not there – another figment of his imagination like thinking he'd seen Owen on the drive over –

"Ianto," she gave him a lazy smile – "Gawd – you look like shit," she sat up, stretching slowly as she did – graceful and sensual… she was still dressing like an extra from a Harry Potter movie. _It has to be her_ – nobody looked like that – dressed like that – _moved_ like that – "Cute shit, mind you, but shit just the same," her grin was just the way he remembered it. Everything about her was just the same.

Ianto shook himself. "What – what are you doing here – how did you get in?"

"It's nice to see you too, Mr. Ianto Jones," Wendy favoured him with a wry little grin and took the empty cup and tin into his kitchen, placing the latter in the trash before washing the former.

"How did you get in here?" _Hell, how did she even find me - ?_

"You really ought to live in one of those secure buildings you know – but still – this is a wee bit better than the last place you had – " her tone was light – easy –

"That was_ five_ _years_ ago – "

"And I suppose you think you're too good for me now?" her tone changed, grew dark: "Well fine then – I'll be on my way, so sorry I bothered you. I just thought you_ might_ want to see me seeing as I'm only going to be in town for a few days – I had certainly wanted to see you. Clearly _that_ was a mistake – guess old times sake doesn't count for shit now that you've apparently come into some sort of success – " she headed back into the living room and started to gather her gear – "Although I suppose it's nice to see you're not somebody's 'couch guy' any more - "

"Wendy – wait – " Ianto caught her arm – "I'm sorry – I just – it's been – it was a really rough week, that's all – " _there's a laugh…_he thought bitterly. A really rough week was when you got sacked from your job – it was when you wrecked your mum's car or failed an exam or got picked up for shoplifting – it was when you got told you'd never make anything of your life because your parents just didn't understand what you really wanted... how could they when you didn't know yourself?

A really rough week was realizing you had no place to go, at least no place that you wanted to be. It was shivering frozen to the bone in some doorway in a part of town you'd never been in before, trying not to get rained on or catch your death of the cold; it was not knowing where to turn or who you could trust with your deepest darkest secrets… it was being so young you thought your little secrets were really deep and dark…

……………………………………………

"_Oiy, you ! This is a private building– time to shove off now – go find yourself some other street corner!" _

"_I don't want any trouble – please – " don't call the police… don't make me go back home… _

_The woman's features softened as she looked at him more closely – "You don't seem hardly old enough to be trouble – what's your name then, Luv?"_

_He just looked at her – stared – she was beautiful – exotic - _

"_All right – I'll go first – I'm Wendy. Wendy Shutten. I didn't mean to give you a fright – we've had awful trouble 'round here lately – getting so's I can't go down the street without getting propositioned," her tone was sour but her smile never wavered._

"_I'm just trying to stay dry, I swear, " he stepped out into the pouring rain so she could get past – "I'll go somewhere else – "_

"_Where to, then?"_

_"What?"_

_"Where will you go -?"_

"_I – don't know. It doesn't matter." Nothing mattered... _

"_You want to come up?" _

"_What?"_

"_To my flat – get yourself dry – I'll put the kettle on – make some sandwiches - "_

"_I – don't have – anything – " nothing... no one... _

"_Well I don't recall asking you for anything – except maybe you're name – ?" her smile was so kind – she looked like the kind of person a kid could trust, but how could he trust a stranger when he had been let down by his friends - his family - ? "Come on up, then - whatever your name is - "_

"_It's Ianto – Ianto Jones - "_

"_It's a pleasure to meet you then, Mr. Ianto Jones. So what do you say to a cup of tea? I might even have a change of cloths that would fit you – used to have a flat mate 'bout your size – "_

"_I really – I – I don't have – I mean – I can't pay you anything or anything – "_

"_I can see that," she smiled. "Come on then – I don't bite – least not unless you ask real nice."_

_"How do you know I'm not a psychopath or something?"_

_Her chuckle was warm - wry - "I've got a pretty good sense about people - once I start talking to them. Besides - what kind of a name is Ianto Jones for a pshchopath?"_

……………………………………………

And maybe he shouldn't have trusted a complete stranger but where else was there? Back home? Not tonight – not after all the shouting over dinner – all the screaming – he knew he was nothing but a disappointment to them – to everyone in his life… He let Wendy take him up to her flat. She dug out clean dry cloths – while he changed, she made tea and sandwiches – it wasn't much – bologna on day-old bread – but the tea was good and the company even better.

She put him up on her sofa – helped him get a job in the coffee shop where she worked – stuck by him when his parents came round making all kinds of wild accusations. He lived with her for six months and she hardly asked for anything… but she always made him laugh, even when he was having a really rough week…

……………………………………………

"Of course I'm happy to see you, Wendy," Ianto's tone was more subdued. "You ah – you just came at a really bad time is all."

She gave him a measured look that rivaled one of Jack's. "All right then. I suppose I can bear the brunt of the blame – popping up like this without a warning – giving you a fright – looked like a scared rabbit you did," a wry smile flickering across her face.

"I did not – " Ianto found himself smiling too, despite everything.

"Oh yes you did – just the same as the day I found you skulking outside my doorway," she drew him into the warmth of a familiar embrace; Wendy was one of those people who wasn't afraid to hang on tight and for a lot longer than most people... "What's the matter?" Wendy's voice was soft in his ear; then she shifted, so he was looking straight into her dark brown eyes, "I know I didn't call – and it has been a few years I'll admit – but you're shaking like a leaf – "

"It's just – just a rough couple of days, that's all," Ianto pulled back, fighting off the urge to start crying all over again… Tosh… Owen… everything… Wendy's arms were still around his shoulders. "I ah – I – just stopped in to get a few things – I have to get back – to work – but – you can stay – if you need a place to crash – you know – my sofa's your sofa – " he forced a smile that wasn't quite completely forced. The very least he owed her was a place to crash.

"It's nearly eight o'clock at night – what kind of work do you have to be getting back to at this hour?"

That was certainly a good question… "You – you must've seen the news – it's been – been a really rough week – for everyone in Cardiff."

"But what I want to know is if _you're_ all right."

"I'm fine," he lied. "I just – I have to get back. I – I'm sorry – "

"No – don't be. It's my fault for not phoning ahead – "

"All you would've gotten was my machine anyway."

"I suppose."

"Look – Wendy – I meant it – about staying – as long as you like. You can even take the bed – "

"You planning on being away that long – or is that a proposition?"

Ianto blushed; he'd had the wildest crush on her for the longest time, but she always said she was too old for him..._ if she only knew about Jack... _ "I ah – I – I don't expect to really be back – soon – but – I promise – we'll find some time to catch up before you leave."

"I'll hold you to that, you know," she ran her hands through his hair like she used to, "I don't think I'm going to be getting used to this clean cut Ianto, though. Boy I remembered was at least three weeks over-due for a hair-cut – and never this clean shaven."

Ianto smiled for real this time, "Guess I just grew up."

"I guess you did. Would you mind terribly if I used your computer while I'm here – just looking for work, won't be surfing the porn sites, promise," she winked.

Ianto felt a fresh rush of warmth overtake his cheeks, remembering Jack and his handy work – "Yeah – sure – help yourself – whatever you want. The kitchen's a bit bare – "

"It does rather smack of twenty-first century bachelor, doesn't it?"

"I – don't get to the market much. But you're welcome to anything – do you need any money?"

"Absolutely not. And I'll replace anything I use – "

"Don't worry about it. Here," he eased himself out of her arms and found a note pad on his desk, "This is the password to get into my computer – ignore the screen saver – prank by a friend," he tried to ignore the warmth in his cheeks, "And this is my cell number. You call me if you need anything – I mean that."

"I'll be fine, Ianto. I just need a place to stay for a couple of days while I sort some things out."

"All right," he leaned in and kissed her cheek – then went into the bedroom to pack. When he came back into the living room, she was sitting at his computer with the screen saver going; she raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He blushed. She chuckled. He leaned over again, kissed the top of her head, "You ah – you going to be here – tomorrow?"

"Probably – as long as you're sure it's ok."

"It is. I'll call you."

"So I take it it's all right for me to pick up the house phone – some girl isn't going to get all jealous – or – some boy – ?"

Ianto suspected he'd gone from pink to bright red, "There ah – yeah, there's someone – and no – he's not likely to call me here – I'll tell you all about him tomorrow – " because hopefully by tomorrow he'd have come up with some sort of story he could tell her – and if Jack did what he'd done today, gone out walking – thinking – then Ianto knew he could slip away for a few hours. Even if Jack didn't go out, by tomorrow he should be all right enough to leave alone…_ and he really is a little old for a babysitter…_

"Ianto – you ah – whatever it is you do – you be careful out there – ok?"

"Always." He was just out the door when his cell rang – it really could only be one person – "Yeah – "

"Ianto – Jack. I'm headed over to Gwen and Rhys's with a pot of chili – meet me there?"

"You've got it," he couldn't hide the smile – he was sure Wendy saw it, even as he headed out the door…what he missed was the look of genuine concern in her dark eyes...

……………………………………………

It was well past midnight when they got back to the hub – back to Jack's quarters – it felt a little bit strange to be coming home with him like this… Ianto tried to remind himself that he was just doing this because Jack was having a hard time sleeping. He was only here as a friend and only for a few days, just until Jack could get through a night – he'd only brought a few changes of cloths. He'd done that on purpose, so he wouldn't be able to get 'carried away' – _just a friend… _someone to turn on the light – someone to talk to Jack in the middle of the night –

Ianto started a little when he felt the hand on his back – he relaxed into the Jack's touch and the hand on his back became an arm around his waist, pulling him in close. Ianto turned his to really look at him – he wondered fleetingly if someday he'd be forgotten – a century – two – four – a millennia – how long would Jack hang onto the memories of his life here – now – Cardiff. Earth…. _the kind of love that stays with a man his whole life…_ Ianto wondered if that was possible… "Why – why don't I go put the chili pot to soak," he offered quietly; he didn't want to think about Jack forgetting him.

"All right. You – want – I don't know – a glass of brandy or something? I'd offer tea - but that's really your area of expertise."

"Yeah – yeah – sure – brandy's fine," and he was caught off guard then, when Jack took the garment bag from over his shoulder –

"I'll hang this up in the bedroom," Jack gave him one of those rare, quiet smiles. It didn't stay quiet for long "And ah – maybe slip into something a little more comfortable while I'm at it."

"And here I thought it was just going to be a quiet evening – "

"Well hey, if that's what you'd prefer – "

"I didn't say that – "

Jack just laughed and headed into the bedroom.

_Normal… _Ianto thought as he made his way to the kitchen… _just a couple of blokes out on a Saturday night…_ it felt good, even if one of those blokes was going to live forever and the other – the other was probably little more than a blip on the radar of his life… _but we have tongith - right now - here. We have this, whatever this really is... __the kind of love that keeps a man warm at night… _

Ianto found himself thinking about Tosh and Owen again – about her final message to them – to Owen – she'd expected him to be there – why did people always wait until it was too late to say how they felt, he wondered, knowing he was just as guilty of it as the next guy… as if he could ever tell Jack how he kept him warm at night too and have it come out sounding anything but sad and pathetic – _but he has to know by now – last night – today – tonight – even if he is going to live forever, there's still today – right now – _

"Ianto – !"

"Jack – what is it – ?" he asked as Jack got into the kitchen; Jack's tone sounded urgent.

"Gwen just called – we're meeting her in the park – "

"Why – what's happened – ?"

"Not sure," Jack handed him a side-arm, "But she got a call from that friend of hers at the police station – they're getting reports of some sort of wild animal – it's mauled two people so far - "

"Weevil?" they'd been quiet the last couple of days, as affected as everyone else by what had happened, Ianto supposed -

"Don't know what it is. So much for our quiet night, huh?"

"Was it going to _be_ a quiet night?" Ianto asked with a bit of a grin.

"Probably not – but hunting aliens in the park wasn't _exactly _what I'd had in mind," Jack grinned right back.

"Well – you know what they say – no rest for the wicked."

Jack chuckled; Ianto left the chili pot soaking in the sink and they headed out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

**No Rest… **

* * *

"That," Gwen shone her flashlight into the mud, "Is _no_t a weevil track. Any ideas – ?" she looked first to Jack and then Ianto.

"Nope – " Ianto answered first. The tracks were apparently made by a quadruped – something big. Assuming the thffing had been walking rather than running (which seemed apparent, but one could never make too many assumptions when dealing with alien species), it had to be at least two or three metres long. Judging by the dept of it's footprints in the mud, it weighed at least three kilos – or at least that was Ianto's best estimation without a calculator. "Jack – ?" he asked, noticing that the Captain was unusually quiet.

"Maybe. Come on – we'd better find this thing and get it contained. But be careful – and don't do anything stupid."

_Stupid as compared to what,_ Ianto wondered, _we hunt bloody aliens for a living… _but he kept his thoughts to himself as they fanned out, weapons drawn.

"Jack – I think there's more than one set of tracks here – " Gwen called from over the next rise.

"Yeah – I'm seeing that too – Ianto – ?"

"Still here," he replied, attempting to keep one eye on the slick, uneven ground and the other on the dark underbrush. Although theoretically whatever it was, it would be big enough that he'd see it coming… still, no telling what kind of night-vision it had – or what kind of sense of smell. At least the moon was full, that would make tracking the thing easier – he just hoped that bullets would be enough to stop it once they found it because whatever it was, it was really, really big… _so much for a quiet night in… _he thought, as he skittered in the mud – Ianto picked himself back up, tried not to think about his dry cleaning bill, and continued on, barely aware that he could no longer hear Jack and Gwen's voices.

He wandered further off the track, into the brush, slid down another slick ridge and found himself in a thicket of tall pine trees. And finally realized he was completely alone.

Almost.

A twig snapped up ahead.

Something in the shadows moved ever so slightly – _could just be the wind _– Ianto ducked behind a tree, holding his breath; he counted silently to ten, listening. Yup. Something was moving out there and he was pretty sure it wasn't human. "Jack – " Ianto hissed into his com-link. "Jack – Gwen – !"

"Where are you?" Jack's voice came over first.

Ianto looked around and realized he had no idea how to answer that. Over a hill? Through a dale?

"Ianto – ?" Jack's voice hissed more urgently in ear.

"I have no idea – "

"Ianto," Gwen's voice, "Oh god – Jack – Ianto – I've got it – Jack – !" her link went dead.

"Gwen – " Ianto and Jack asked almost at the same time.

Then, "Ianto?" Jack queried.

"Go find her. I'm fine," he cast a quick glance around the other side of the tree – maybe he'd been imagining things? _No – no I definitely saw __**something**__ – _

Jack answered with a quiet 'all right' – Ianto held his ground a moment more before continuing on. Whatever had been was – it wasn't there now –

In the distance a shot rang out – a distinctly not-human howl pierced the night – Ianto closed his eyes – he'd never heard anything so terrible (and he'd heard a lot of terrible sounds in his short twenty five years of life) –

There was another shot – and another – and when Ianto opened his eyes, he realized he wasn't alone. Either he had found it or it had found him but regardless, Ianto recognized the beast from oldest of the old case files in the Torchwood archives… he'd studied them in depth after he first joined Torchwood London, but – honestly – nothing could really have prepared him for the thing he was face to face with now.f

……………………………

Jack fired six rounds into the creature but it still kept running – he might have been satisfied that it was running _away_ from them if he didn't recognize it and the need to contain the situation.

"Oh God – Jack – what was that thing – !"

"Did it get near you?" he asked, trying (but failing) to keep his tone neutral.

"No – I'm fine – "

"You're bleeding."

"Caught m'self on that branch there – that's when link went down – I'm _fine_, really – " she fumbled to get her earpiece back in, "Where's Ianto?"

"He's fine; he can take care of himself," Jack responded, maybe a little more forcefully than he meant to. Toshiko – Owen – they'd known how to take care of themselves too… "Let me see your arm."

"It's just a scratch – come on – if there's really more than one of those things out there – "

Jack understood her concern – wondered if maybe it wasn't a little heightened, the same way his was – yesterday – the day before – _now we move on…_ his own words. Just because they'd suffered losses, that didn't stop the rift from opening up, dumping new threats into Cardiff's streets. "Let me see you arm – Gwen, don't make me make that an order," _please…_

"It's a bloody scratch – it's _nothing_ – "

"Fine – so let me see it," he insisted – if she'd been bitten – there was _no_ cure and the thought of losing one more person that he cared about – loved… He knew he'd lose them all eventually, but _**not **_today – _please, just not today._ Gwen looked pissed, but she gave in and let him examine the wound; it was just what Gwen said it was. The wound was rounded – gouged – bloody – it would probably be bruised by morning. Right now it need cleaning – gauze – but it was _just _a scratch – he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. _Not today… _

"Jack – ?"

"You're right – it's just a scratch – " he favoured her with a tight smile. _Not today… _

"So are you going to tell me what the hell is going on now?"

"Those things – they're like a disease – it's passed on in the saliva – "

"What is it, then?"

"In simplest terms – a werewolf." And he waited – and watched as disbelief overtook her features. Even Jack had to admit, and even with everything they saw on a daily basis, werewolves _were_ a little out there… but before she could ask, he answered, guiding their way back up the trail towards the direction he thought Ianto had wandered off in, "Torchwood was founded after one of those creatures attacked Queen Victoria – it's an alien, Gwen. And it's contagious."

"You mean – like – in the old movies? You get bitten and you turn into one?"

"That's exactly what I mean."

"So what do we do now – load up on silver bullets?" she seemed to barely believe what she was hearing out of him.

"That's exactly what we do – "

"You're can't be serious – "

"Do I look like I'm joking – now come on, we've got to find that thing before we have an epidemic on our hands."

More shots rang through the night –

……………………………………

_I'm dead… that's it, I'm dead –_ Ianto thought as he looked into the gleaming yellow eyes of the approaching werewolf… off in the distance he could hear Jack and Gwen calling his name – but they sounded too far off to be any help to him now – _Ianto Jones – dog food… _Ianto emptied his last clip into the creature – it kept coming at him, slowly – stalking him almost – like it was making up its mind just exactly how it wanted to kill him. There was nowhere to run - no use running - his back was up against a tree and he was finding it extremely difficult to move - but even if he could have moved, he'd read the file, he knew how fast these things could run and bullets were clearly not having much of an affect on it.

Over his shoulder Ianto heard another snarl – the other one, it must be, the one that had had Gwen – but if he could hear her voice, she must be ok. There was some consolation in that, he supposed. The funny thing was that he wasn't as scared as he thought he should be with the appearance of the second werewolf – then again, what was the difference, one or two – dead was still dead, right? He glanced over at the second wolf – it was smaller – darker coloured – no less horrific with its glistening brown eyes and long sharp teeth –

The second werewolf seemed to be paying more attention to the first than to him – territorial, maybe? Very little was known about them – Ianto searched his memory for any scrap of information that might be useful to him now but there had only been the one instance –

The two beasts faced each other – the one over Ianto's shoulder snarled again – the growl started low in its throat – it was definitely directed at the one in front of him. (He also noticed, almost a side note, that it was wounded – Jack and / or Gwen must've shot it – he seemed to remember that a wounded animal was a dangerous animal… _great, two of them and they're both pissed.) _He continued to press his back up against the tree – maybe they'd be so occupied with each other he could slip away –

The one in front lunged forward – the one to his side met it head on – while they tumbled around in the mud, he did the only sensible thing one could do in a situation such as this. He ran.

……………………………………………

Jack caught him head on, just up the ridge – _not today… _he held Ianto for the briefest of moments but still a moment longer than he would have normally… the he held the other man at arm's length –

Ianto just shook his head – he hadn't been bitten – and it would figure that Ianto was just the sort of person who would have read through all the old Torchwood files in his spare time. Jack nodded – Ianto looked shaken, but none the worse for wear.

"There's two of them," he said, in what sounded like an attempt at calm, "They – seemed more interested in each other than in me."

Jack led the way over the ridge. By the time they got there, the creatures were both gone. Ianto was right – they'd fought – there was more blood in the mud – broken underbrush – one tree freshly fallen – it had been a pretty savage fight.

"Territorial aggression?" Ianto suggested.

"Don't know – I'm assuming you've read the same files I have."

"Yeah - probably."

"So what now?" Gwen wanted to know.

"Sun'll be up soon," Ianto looked around, "There'll be no tracking them after that."

"What – why?"

"Think about those old movies, Gwen," Jack told her.

"You can't be serious – those things – they're _people_?"

"Not people," said Jack, "Infectees. It's a virus – a disease. It overtakes the host and – and changes them. They ceased to be human the moment they were bitten."

"So what do we do now?"

"I'll track down all reported cases of animal bites," Ianto began. "See if – if anything pops up as unusual. Maybe some of those reports of 'wild animals' roaming the streets the other night weren't just weevils."

Jack nodded – Gwen just looked around her in disbelief. Then she shook herself. "All right. I'll come back to the hub with you – "

"You don't have to," Jack offered. "We can't do anything until nightfall anyway – why don't you get some sleep."

"You expect me to sleep after this?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I expect you to do. And get that arm cleaned up – even if it's just a scratch – "

"All right, fine. But I am not going to tell Rhys that I was out here hunting Lon Bloody Chaney Jr. – as far as he's concerned, this was just another weevil incident – got it?"

Jack smiled a little – even after everything that had happened the last week, she could still make a joke… that had to be a good sign. "Mum's the word," he winked at her, looking over at Ianto.

"Works for me," the younger man agreed.

……………………………………………………………

"You mind driving?" Ianto asked as they got back to the SUV.

"Too much excitement for one night?" Jack teased him, just a little.

"I just want to close my eyes for ten minutes is all."

"No problem," Jack took the keys from him – and he would have sworn that Ianto brushed his fingers just a little, a little longer than was really necessary just to pass over the keys – then Ianto looked away, maybe a little too quickly. Jack smiled, but kept his observations to himself.

They climbed into the SUV – Ianto was asleep by the time he pulled onto the main road… Jack rested one hand on the younger man's leg anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

**Personal Discoveries**

* * *

**A/N**

_Or how the author deals with some of the little plot holes we've inherited… (and/or made for herself in the last chapter… hey nobody's perfect… ) ;-) _

mostly a short bit of fluff and back-story...

* * *

Ianto sat, freshly showered, in Jack's quarters, laptop perched on his knees, coffee cup in hand; he had two searches goinfg simultaneously, one of external databases, looking for 'wild animal' reports and one internal, looking for any other references to werewolves or what had happened at the Torchwood Estate in 1879. So far, he wasn't getting anything noteworthy – but at least Jack was finally getting some sleep. Ianto could hear him - he couldn't really call it snoring, just loud, easy breathing that told him Jack was sound asleep in the next room, and had been, Ianto was fairly certain, practically the moment he laid down... _score one for the tea boy... _Ianto thought smuggly to himself.

They'd argued over it – Jack wanted to stay up and help, Ianto wanted him to sleep because he needed it – eventually Ianto had won when promised he'd get some sleep too, in just a bit. Ianto wasn't sure whether it was his use of sound logic that had won the argument or maybe it was just that Jack was all but falling over by the time they got back. It might not be much, but the nap he'd had on the ride back had been enough to keep Ianto on his feet.

Only now staring at the computer screen as it blipped and bleeped along was making him feel zoned out again; Ianto shook himself. He set the laptop carefully aside and stretched. He thought – briefly – about Wendy. He hadn't gotten around to telling Jack about her – but it didn't matter… _werewolves first, private life second…_ Ianto checked in on Jack before going to refill his coffee cup – Jack was still asleep. He'd left the light and the radio on – but so far, so good, exhaustion was keeping the nightmares from getting to him. _The kind of love that can keep a man warm at night… _Ianto wanted nothing more than to curl up with Jack and get some sleep himself, but there was too much that needed to be done first.

He filled his cup and put on a fresh pot of coffee, extra strong, but instead of going back to Jack's quarters, he headed to the archives – maybe there was something in the paper file that hadn't made its way onto the computer…

……………………………………………

Ianto had become so engrossed in what he was reading, that he didn't notice Jack slip up behind him until he felt the familiar touch of the other man's hand on his back. Despite everything, Ianto felt a smile form – he turned it up towards Jack, "You look better."

"That makes one of us. You promised me you'd get some sleep," Jack sounded cross, although his face just read 'concern.' He stood behind Ianto, rubbing some of the stiffness out of his shoulders.

"Have I ever mentioned how good you are at that?"

"A few times," Jack gave him one of those cocky little smiles.

Ianto allowed himself to relax a little more, in spite of everything he'd been reading. It wasn't just about the werewolf. "So, what time is it?" he asked when Jack shifted again, looking over his shoulder to see the files he'd been sifting through.

"Almost three."

"Guess time slipped away from me," Ianto smiled – Jack still teased him about his stopwatch from time to time. "Did you check the laptop before coming to find me?"

"Yeah. No reports of anything that looks like a werewolf attack."

"Do we even know what a werewolf attack is supposed to look like?"

"You tell me," Jack nodded at the report on the top of Ianto's pile of paperwork.

"Why'd you do it?" Ianto asked the question in the most neutral tone he could muster. Jack had tampered with the records somehow – that's why Ianto hadn't known that Jack's Doctor (with a capitol 'D' he now realized) was involved in the original werewolf incident, despite the fact that he'd read all of the old files. The electronic versions. These versions, the paper versions, included details not in the 'official' file – details that painted this Doctor's participation in the affair in a particularly unpleasant light.

"Because they were wrong about him," Jack pulled up another stool and took a seat next to Ianto – not too close, though, Ianto noticed – or maybe it was his imagination.

"So this really is your Doctor," it wasn't much of a question – there was a sketch of a man in the file – cute – slim – tussled dark hair – Ianto could see where Jack got 'weird Elvis Costello look' out of that, even if the sketch was pretty bad.

Jack picked up the paper and smiled a smile that gave Ianto all the answer he really needed, "One of them, anyway – definitely the cheekier version."

Ianto looked at him –

"He didn't look like that when I met him. Here – there's another file somewhere – I nicked it from that LINDA gfroup a few years back -"

"It doesn't matter," Ianto started pulling the papers back into order in as quick and effecient manner as he could manage. According to the files from 1879, 'Sir Doctor of TARDIS' and a 'Dame Rose of the Powell Estate' were enemies of the Empire – but somewhere along the line the files had been changed – erased – updated – mentions of the Doctor removed or obscured. Jack was talking:

"Queen Victoria got it wrong – Torchwood got it wrong. The Doctor isn't a threat – to _anyone_," he added in a pointed sort of tone that got Ianto's attention away from the file. They sat looking at each other for a long moment before Jack went on: "For years, the Doctor was UNIT's Scientific Advisor - "

"Why didn't you contact him then?"

"I couldn't. It wasn't _my_ Doctor - the one I knew."

"But if they're the same man - "

"It's complicated. And anyway, he vanished again in the nineteen eighties - "

"So he does that to everyone, does he?" Ianto couldn't help the ice in his tone. A little voice in the back of his mind reminded him that that's just what he'd done to most of his friends - family - when he moved from Cardiff to London five years ago. But hadn't severed all ties, he just hadn't kept in touch with people like Wendy, people who were part of a past he was trying to forget – and anyway, London wasn't some other time and space, it was two hours by train... _and I never vanished on you..._ he thought in Jack's direction.

"Yes. He does that to everobody, not just me," Jack confirmed, resting one hand on Ianto's knee; Ianto missed the tentative little flicker that crossed Jack's features.

He hesitated a second more, then reached down and took Jack's hand, twining his fingers into Jack's - _ok, maybe I am carrying this whole jealosy thing a bit too far_... he thought at himself... _Jack's here, he came back... _"So why didn't Torchwood - I don't know - go after him, I suppose - while he was working with UNIT - ?" he asked... _other than that would have seriously pissed UNIT off... _the current spirit of cooperation aside, Torchwood and UNIT had often found themselves on opposite sides of the alien debate. Ianto wondered if that might not have to do with the Doctor, seeing as he was clearly not human himself.

"Torchwood was unaware that the Doctor doesn't always look the same. I certainly wasn't going to tell them."

"How did you know?"

"The big blue box sort of gives him away," Jack smiled as if to himself.

"So you did see him, then – I mean – before – or – after – or whatever," Ianto realized that was entirely too tired to think too hard about the ramifications of time travel.

"Just a couple of times," Jack's tone was soft – distant. Sad. Ianto gave his hand a squeeze, he didn't even know why, but Jack squeezed back. "I couldn't even say hello – not without messing up the whole time and space thing - crossing my own time-line and all that. It was bad enough I was in England twice during World War II -- you try remembering where you were almost a hundred years ago," Jack favoured him with half a little smile.

"Why didn't you just leave?"

"I couldn't."

"Waiting for you Doctor?"

"No." Jack's tone was cold.

"What was it then?"

"It's - complicated."

"Tell me - "

"I didn't join Torchwood volunterily, Ianto. I didn't have a choice. They didn't give me one. To be honest some days - some days I prayed I'd never see him again because if I had - back then - I'm not sure - I really don't know how it would have turned out," his voice trailed off a little - and Ianto understood - Torchwood had used Jack somehow - gotten to him - intended to force him to turn on the Doctor...

Ianto studied Jack's softened, distant-seeming feathers for a long moment before speaking again: "You really do love him, don't you?" he asked in just as quiet a tone. "Even now."

"_Always_," Jack said with a forcefulness that made Ianto ache deep down inside (even when he told himself that this Doctor didn't actually want Jack) – but it didn't matter and it didn't stop him from meeting Jack's kiss, when the Captain leaned towards him. Jack cupped his face and held him tight – when their lips parted, he kept Ianto's face close to his own, kept hold of him, "That doesn't mean there isn't room for – for all kinds of love, Ianto," he gave the younger man another – only slightly gentler – kiss. This time when their lips parted, Jack let him pull back, let go – smiled a soft smile, "Why don't you get some sleep and let me take over here for a while – ?"

"You're not going to find anything," Ianto told him quietly, the warmth of Jack's mouth still lingering on his.

"There's still someone I can call – "

"Your Doctor?" Ianto asked, although he (mostly) meant it as a joke... he almost wouldn't mind having this Doctor here, because at least then someone would know what they were dealing with. All they really had at the moment was a two-hundred year old case file and their own experiences from last night.

"I wouldn't know how to get in touch with him – but in the process of looking for him – well – travelers in time and space have a way of finding each other and a few years ago – give or take a decade – I ran into another doctor – completely human – who still 'dabbles' in the unusual."

"Dabbles, hmmm?" Ianto asked with a bit of a wry grin; the hurt he'd felt a moment ago wasn't gone, but it was fading. After all, Jack would live forever, so it only stood to reason that there had to be room in his heart for more than one man – woman – animal – vegetable – mineral… honestly very little would surprise Ianto any more...

Jack chuckled, "No – we didn't actually 'dabble' – at least not the way you and I do," he cupped Ianto's face again, planting a fierce kiss on the younger man's mouth.

"I'm surprised - about you and this other doctor, I mean," Ianto gave as good as he got right back - _definitly out of character... _but he wasn't complaining. In fact, he honestly wouldn't mind getting used to this more affectionate version of Jack.

"It wasn't for lack of trying, trust me – but I think the whole idea of dabbling with a man my age me put Liz off a bit." Then – Jack's expression changed – clouded over –

"No," Ianto assured him softly, "The one thing about you that _doesn't_ bother me is your age."

"But some things do bother you?" Jack gave him a genuinely quizical look.

"Well - you do have the fairly bad habit of leaving dirty coffee cups all over the place, and frankly, the size of the dust bunnies under your sofa would be enough to frighten a weevil."

Jack laughed - truly laughed (which had been the whole idea.) "Duly noted. Now -- go get some sleep - or do I really have to make that an order."

Ianto leaned in for one more kiss before standing up. "Wake me up in a couple of hours?"

"No – you're going to get _at least_ four hours of sleep – I'll wake you at seven – not before."

"All right – just don't go out werewolf hunting without me."

Jack chuckled, "Wouldn't dream of it."

_God, I love you..._the thought slipped away from Ianto before he even realized it... his only consolation was that he hadn't said it aloud... he flashed an awkward seeming smile and headed up to the main hub. On his way into Jack's bedroom and some much needed sleep, Ianto dialed his flat – all he got was his own voice on the answering machine – "Hey – Wendy – it's me – guess you're out – look – thing's've gotten a little more hectic than I'd expected here at work – I'll ring you tomorrow – I promise – we'll go out for drinks or something. Take care." He flipped the phone shut and turned it off, then collapsed in a heap into the bed without even bothering to undress first.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

**A Doctor in the House**

* * *

Ianto woke atop a tangle of satin sheets surrounded by Jack's scent and smiled. The lights were off and the radio silent (he'd been to tired to bother with either when he literally fell into Jack's bed a few hours ago.) That meant that Jack must have at least checked in on him – turned them off. The smile deepened –

"You're up – "

Ianto started at the sound of Jack's voice at the door; "Seems that way," he replied, glancing away briefly, but not sure why...

"Brought you coffee," Jack offered.

Ianto accepted it from him gratefully; he felt as if all the weevils had escaped from the sewers, snuck in and beaten him with baseball bats in his sleep. Coffee may or may not help, but it was certainly a good start. "Thanks."

"I can't say it's going to be anywhere near as good as yours – " Jack sat down on the edge of the bed wearing an expression Ianto couldn't quite read. "But it's my best effort."

"What did you ever do before I got here?"

Jack gave him another look he couldn't interpret.

Ianto decided that maybe he didn't really want the answer (he could fill in the blanks on his own – Jack had probably done the pizza delivery guy – the girl from the dry-cleaners – the mail carrier – maybe even the milk man – not that they really had a milk man, but the point was the same...) "Find anything?" he asked.

"Not really. Gwen'll be here soon – I figured you might like a few minutes before she got here to – freshen up," he shot over a mischievous grin. Freshen up usually had entirely different connotations. "Can't have her seeing you all rumpled."

Ianto chuckled and was amazed at his own ability to laugh after everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours - the last week. He took another sip of coffee, "Not bad, by the way."

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

"Jack – there's something I meant to tell you earlier – " he felt a twinge of guilt over it really although he supposed it was silly. He hardly had to feel guilty over something that was mostly nothing, at least as far as Jack and Torchwood were concerned. "Things just got a little – you know – werewolves – " it still sounded absurd to be saying that aloud.

"Never a dull moment, huh?"

"No, never," Ianto took another sip of his coffee, offering up a half smile to meet the one Jack was giving him. It shouldn't be a big deal – it wasn't like Wendy had anything to do with anything but after – after _everything_ – he still sometimes felt like – _like I can't believe he ever trusted me again and I don't ever want to lose that…him… _no matter how hopeless it seemed sometimes…_except that this is something… here… now… _he searched Jack's face not even knowing what he was looking for –

"So – ?" Jack queried. "You had something to say - ?"

"Sorry. Still waking up. I just – I meant to say something before and I'm sorry I didn't. I wouldn't want you to think I was hiding something from you – "

"What's going on?"

"Nothing really. I've got this friend – yes, Jack I do have those," he added to the smirk that replaced the frown on Jack's face, "Anyway – she sort of – appeared – well – you know – not _literally _– she just showed up on my doorstep last night is all," was it really just last night? "She needed a place to crash for a few days, so I told her she could use my place."

"I see."

"She's an old friend – I couldn't say no. It's just for a couple of days – and she's not the sort person to – I don't know – call long distance – talk to Peru for hours on end or something – and there's nothing at in my flat to connect me to Torchwood."

"What sort of an old friend did you say this was again?" Jack gave him an incredulous look that actually made Ianto smile – it looked for all the world like Jack might be a little bit jealous – not that that seemed possible. More likely he wanted to know why exactly Ianto had held out on telling him for so long.

"She ah – she took me in – I was just a kid. I'd had this huge, awful fight with my parents – "

"Over?"

"Everything – nothing. You saw my file – there were lots of things for us to fight about and one day it all just sort of came to a head. They didn't throw me out or anything – they really weren't that awful, I just wasn't who they wanted me to be – and I knew it and they knew it and one day it all just blew up so I left. Which was really pretty stupid on my part, I literally had about a pound in my pocket – I rode around town all day on the bus, just thinking – but eventually I had to get off and – I wasn't really paying attention to where I was. I remember - hadn't eaten all day - I was starving and all I wanted was to go home and have my mother's bubble and squeak - but of course I didn't want to go home and I was miserable – and I was cold – I was scared – _and_ it was raining – and I had no money so even if I'd wanted to get home, I wouldn't have been able to get there. I suppose I could have called them – they would have come and gotten me – "

"But that would have defeated the purpose of running away," Jack finished the thought for him; his tone was kinder than Ianto would have expected; he supposed that Jack really had been a kid once too, but sometimes it was hard to think of him that way…he found Jack's hand on his and he twined his fingers into the other man's and something deep inside surged – "How old were you?" Jack asked in that same soft voice.

"Seventeen. I wandered around in the rain for a while trying to figure out what to do – and then I met this girl. This amazing – beautiful – brilliant girl. The nicest person I'd ever met. She took me – got me a job – in the coffee shop where she worked, as a matter of fact," he added with bit of a smile. "She let me sleep on her sofa – and she's just going to be in town for a couple of days – I couldn't say no. Not to Wendy."

"And turning up out of nowhere – ?"

"Totally like her," he couldn't help but smile. "She's this wild unpredictable woman – you'd probably like her. The last time we talked, it was about five years ago – just before I moved up to London. Wendy was leaving to go backpacking across Northern Ireland and wanted to know if I'd come with her. Obviously I said no."

"I guess I should be glad you decided not to run off together, then," Jack ran his thumb across the back of Ianto's hand, seemingly unconsciously.

"We were never involved, Jack. She let me sleep on her sofa and she was a really good friend at a time in my life when I didn't have very many of those."

Jack just gave him a _look_.

"All right, you win – I _wanted_ to be involved with her in the worst possible – hormonal – teenager way. She ah – she said she was too old for me."

"Apparently she didn't realized you have this thing for older partners," Jack quipped back with a wry half-grin that made Ianto blush all over again.

"Apparently – anyway – I'm – you know – sorry I didn't mention it sooner," he withdrew his hand from Jack's – as nice as this was, if Gwen was on her way over –

"Just out of curiosity," Jack stood up, "What did you tell this Wendy you did for a living?"

"I didn't – I was hoping that by the time I got a chance to sit down and actually have a proper conversation with her, I'd've sorted something out. I suppose could always say I work in a tourist office – "

Jack snickered, "I guess you could. It wouldn't even be a total lie."

"Well, here's to half truths, then," Ianto raised his mug.

"You know, Ianto – if you had a friend turn up like that – you could have skipped out on dinner last night – "

"What – and miss out on Jack Harkness's galaxy famous chili – ? Never."

Jack's snicker turned into one of those grins… and Ianto wasn't so much surprised _that_ Jack leaned in and kissed him just then, it was the way he did it, touching Ianto's neck, drawing him in gently – tenderly – pulling him close with the other hand wrapped around Ianto's shoulders….

_Definitely out of character…but I am not complaining… _

"I am very,_ very_ glad you didn't run off to Ireland five years ago," Jack said in a low, soft tone, many long moments later.

"Yeah. Me too," Ianto's voice was just as quiet – Gwen's presence was announced by the security system. "I ah – I'll be down as soon as I've put on a fresh shirt," Ianto sat back just a little.

"Can't have Gwen getting the wrong impression, now, can we?" Jack teased. They both knew that Gwen had gotten the wrong (or perhaps right) idea a long time ago…

Ianto waited until Jack was gone to switch his cell back on and check the voice mail. No messages. _Odd…_ but Wendy was a big girl, she could handle herself… except what did she know about werewolves and weevils… ? He called his flat and got the answering machine again. "Ok – well – it's me – we must just be missing each other or something. Call me when you get this, ok? I ah – I'm getting a little worried – I know that's probably silly but – you know – with everything that's gone on here the last few days I can't help it. Anyway – I'm probably going to be up all night so just call me as soon as you get in – if you lost the number, I have caller ID." _Right._ There was a reason he never called girls on the phone – he made an ass of himself even leaving messages for the ones he knew well… Ianto hung up, drained his cup and discovered that Jack hadn't just hung his bag up in the room, he'd taken his cloths out and hung them up in the closet… he decided not to read too much into that.

……………………………………………

Jack gave Gwen a dark look when he got down into the hub; she was at the cappuccino maker and she looked as if she'd gotten less sleep than Ianto – "I thought you were going home – "

"After last night? You're kidding, right?"

"Well what did you do –? No, let Ianto get that – " he added as she started puzzling over how to work the machine.

"He's here already?"

"Answer the question, Gwen," Jack said, as much to distract her from the state of his personal affairs as anything else.

Gwen gave in with little fight – something he doubted she would have done if the circles under her eyes weren't almost as dark as her eyes themselves. "I ran down all the reports of gunshot wounds at area hospitals – hospitals are obliged to report things like that to the police you know – "

"Yes I know – but I thought we established last night that there's no way to tell whose been infected once they revert back to looking human."

"Well I had to do something, didn't I?" Her tone was dark – then she glanced up, "Ianto – hi – could get this thing working properly?"

"Of course," he offered her a warm smile, barely glancing at Jack as he passed – _always professional…_ however:

"So – what did you hope to get out of the exercise except sleep deprivation?" Jack wanted to know.

"Oh you should talk – "

"This really isn't helping," Ianto cut in, glancing at the pair of them.

Jack gave him a look – so did Gwen – Ianto stood his ground (mostly by ignoring them and getting the coffee going – but he didn't shirk away from the twin glowers the way Jack thought he might have once…)

"Well?" Jack asked Gwen in what he thought might pass for a more civil tone. "Did you find out anything?"

"I talked to everybody who'd been admitted for gunshot wounds – they all had explanations that checked out – or wounds that didn't match up with anything we used last night – "

"So in other words, you wasted your entire day on nothing – " He ignored the look Ianto shot in his direction. Almost. "Sorry," Jack muttered, mostly at Gwen. In the last forty-eight hours, she'd probably gotten more sleep than either he or Ianto – Jack glanced at the younger man briefly – he seemed to be holding up all right at least. When he really thought about it, Ianto had to be one of the more resilient people he'd ever met. _With everything that happens around here, he always comes back… to this place… to me…my bed… _

"I'm sorry, too," Gwen's tone was so quiet, Jack almost missed that. "I know you told me to get some sleep – but – I just couldn't. Just when I really think I've seen it all – _heard_ it all – you come out with something new – "

"I know," he pulled her in for a moment, hearing the words she wasn't saying – Gwen was running out of ways to cope. Tosh. Owen. All of it. Jack suspected that the only reason she'd come in at all was guilt; she couldn't in good conscience leave him and Ianto to do it, but she was running out of ways to handle situations like last night – running out of things to tell herself to keep herself sane... and the worst thing was that he didn't have anything to tell her that would help. _This is when it all changes… _Jack glanced over at Ianto; the young man flashed him half a tight little smile; if it ever bothered Ianto that sometimes he held Gwen – that he did truly love her – Ianto didn't let it show.

"It wasn't a completely wasted day," Gwen said after a long moment. "Or at least I hope this helps. I figured while I was there anyway, might as well make something of it, so I got DNA swabs from pretty much all of the victims – a few refused, but most of them were on their way to central booking anyway, so they'll be in the system and we can get DNA if we need it."

"DNA?"

"Well this thing is a virus, right? If we get a sample of it, we'll have some people to compare it to, rule them out for sure – I don't know – I had to do something – "

"That was good thinking," he told her – it wasn't lost on Jack that the one thing they desperately needed was a qualified medic and that what Gwen was really doing was trying to fill a gap she had no way of filling… he was startled by the light touch of Ianto's hand on his waist. It only lasted a second – Ianto really was nothing if not completely professional – but he was there…_he's always there when I need somebody…_

The security system sounded again, causing both Gwen and Ianto to look at him with question and concern. "It's all right," he assured them, "I asked an old friend to come down – Earl Gray tea, extra strong, cream, not milk," he added to Ianto.

"I'm on it – "

"Gwen – come on – I'll introduce you – " he'd given Liz the pass-codes to get in the main entrance, through the tourist office – with one arm still around Gwen's waist, Jack walked into the main area of the hub just as Liz was coming in.

"Well, you certainly know how to impress a girl, I'll give you that," Liz said as she entered through the barred gate. She was in her sixties or seventies (Jack really didn't keep track), still slim and still as lovely as ever – he said as much aloud, although he realized it wasn't really going to have an effect on her. She'd gotten quite good at turning down his advances a long time ago – however, in Jack's experience the older a lady got, the more the little flatteries meant to her… he took the small equipment case she was carrying from her, offering up a kiss on the cheek – "Now don't you start, Jack Harkness," Liz gave him a warning tone that was at odds with her playful smile.

"You know – that's just what he kept telling me the last time I saw him," Jack grinned back.

"So you've found him, have you?"

"Yeah – I found him."

"And?"

"It went about as well as you said it would – maybe even worse."

"Should I ask how he was – or – ?"

"I have the feeling you'd say some things never change."

"And I'd say I'm looking at one of those things now."

"A fixed point in time – a fact."

"That sounds foreboding."

"To a Time Lord."

"I should hope you parted on good terms at least?"

"With eyes like his – ?"

Liz chuckled and shook her head up at him, "I never have understood that bit – no matter what he looked like – he never had that effect on me."

"That you're made of stronger stuff than I am, Dr. Shaw."

"I doubt that very much, Captain Harkness," she returned with the same mock formality. "So – shall we have the grand tour – the introductions?"

"Right – sorry – Liz this is Gwen Cooper – ah – and the man with the coffee, Ianto Jones – Gwen – Ianto, may I present Dr. Elizabeth Shaw."

"You've called in a doctor, then?" Gwen queried –

Jack saw the look Liz gave him, and just winked, "One of a few I know. Liz used to work with UNIT – "

"Trust me, I was much younger then – thank you, dear," she said as Ianto handed her a teacup. "When I got tired of the military bureaucracy I went to work in the civilian sector – that's where Jack found me. Tried to get me to join this lot here, too – to which I assured him that I was entirely too old," she added.

"Never," he gave her a wink.

Liz chuckled, "At any rate – a few years ago, he gave me this," she nodded at Jack, who set her case onto a near-by table; Liz opened it and handed over a sealed specimen jar.

"What is it?" Gwen asked.

"The last remaining sample of DNA from the Torchwood Estate incident."

Gwen looked up at Jack – "How did you – ?"

"A little something I 'liberated' from Torchwood London a few years back," he explained. "I never did trust them."

"Long about the time you had a go at some of the records?" Ianto queried, not quite under his breath.

"Something like that. Anyway – hopefully this will give us a better idea about what we're dealing with – and something to compare those samples you collected to. Maybe we'll get lucky and be able to track those things down during the day when they're vulnerable – "

"They're not _things_, Jack," Liz rebuked him, "They are – or at least _were_ – human – "

"Were. As in past tense. They're not human any more – and they never will be again."

"Isn't there any cure?" Gwen wanted to know.

"No – at least not yet," Liz told her. "I've worked on it on and off over the years – ever since Jack gave me that – but I haven't been able to come up with anyway of separating out the human DNA from the mutated DNA – but with a live patient and the right facility – "

"You've read the file," was Jack's answer. "My first priority is to contain the situation before we end up with an epidemic of these things. _Victims_," he said to her harsh look. "The point is – once someone become infected, they're carriers – and at night, in the moonlight, they lose all semblance of humanity – and all it takes to be infected is one bite – one drop of saliva in an open wound – "

"So this – thing – this virus – it's_ really _where all the old werewolf stories come from?" asked Gwen; she wasn't quite winning out the battle not to look down at where she'd gouged her arm last night… "They could really be anyone?"

"It would seem so, yes," Liz answered her. "In 1540, something crashed to earth – it's never been made clear what that something was – but it apparently contained a cell of alien DNA – that DNA got introduced into a human host – and – well, the long story short is that three hundred years later there was a werewolf running around Wales slaughtering cattle – it was used in a plot against the Queen. That's why she started Torchwood."

"But it was killed," said Ianto. "Right?"

"Yes. The Doctor. Of course."

"What else could he have done?" Jack was quick (perhaps too quick) to defend the Time Lord.

"We won't ever know, now will we – ? And now we're paying the price, because it seems as if there's another one and we have almost no idea _what_ we're dealing with or what to do about it."

"I know exactly what I'm going to do about it," Jack told her – this wasn't the first time they'd had this debate (about any number of things.)

"Is that really the plan then?" Gwen gave him one of those looks. "We're talking about people – victims – you said so yourself – one bite and you're done – it's not like these people asked for this – "

"There's no cure, Gwen – "

"That you know of."

"Look – sometimes life – life isn't always fair – you should know that by now."

"That doesn't mean I like to be reminded." She turned to walk away –

"Gwen – " _I didn't mean Tosh and Owen… _he'd been trying to remind her that he didn't exactly ask to be immortal –

"Just – just give me a few minutes to myself, all right?" before he could answer, Gwen had gone off to Tosh's old station to sit down. It looked like she was crying.

"Sorry," Jack apologized in Liz's direction. "Things've been – a little hectic."

"From the looks of things, it's not me you need to apologize to, Jack."

He nodded –

"So – what exactly _is _the plan, now?" Ianto asked in a carefully neutral tone of voice.

"There isn't much we can do but wait for another sighting. These things don't give off any particular energy signal – they're not really a part of regular rift activity – they might not be connected to the rift at all," he took a breath – held it – and let it out again. He didn't need to alienate both Gwen _and_ Ianto with his frustration. "Ianto – would you mind helping Liz settle in – I ah – "

"You should give her a few minutes," Ianto advised in that same neutral tone.

Jack looked at him – then nodded – he was right… "I'll go see how many silver bullets we have in the storeroom – "

"Two hundred and thirty seven – er – sorry – " Ianto seemed to realize too late that Jack was just looking for an excuse to walk away for a few minutes and cool off. "Of course I never checked the back cupboard – " Ianto offered in a hopeful sounding tone.

"Right. Why don't I do that. Liz – thanks again. I appreciate you coming down for this."

"Any time, Jack."

………………………………………………

"So – you know the Doctor, then?" Ianto asked in the most casual tone he could muster, as he helped Dr. Shaw set her equipment up in the medical bay. She just had the one case – but Jack must've told her that they would have nearly everything she'd need if she was able to actually get a living specimen… Ianto wasn't quite sure how he felt about having one of those things here after the way one had nearly eaten his face of last night…

"I knew the Doctor quite a long time ago," she answered his question, "Not that time means much to a Time Lord."

Not wanting to show his ignorance, Ianto only nodded. "What was he like – when you knew him?" he struggled to keep his voice that same casual tone.

"Hmmm – how _would_ I describe the Doctor – ?" she leaned forward on the exam table and propped her chin up on her fists, seeming to give the matter serious consideration before she answered: "The Doctor is – self-confident bordering on the arrogant. Egotistical. Egalitarian. Stubborn. Completely unpredictable – a bit mad at times. Rather like your Captain Harkness, really," she smiled. "The problem we had was that the Doctor didn't so much need an assistant as he needed somebody to stand around and tell him how wonderful he was – _very_ much like your Jack – which is probably why deep down I knew I could never work for him, either."

"Erm – " Ianto felt a flush of warmth to his cheeks and wondered what Jack had said to Dr. Shaw –

"I was UNIT's scientific advisor – before the Doctor appeared and the brigadier put him in charge. It was hard enough being a woman in the early seventies, trying to gain even the tiniest bit of respect in a thoroughly male dominated field – I suppose I resented playing second fiddle all the time. Would you believe they always called me 'Miss' Shaw – as if I didn't have a proper title all my own – a title I earned, too, thank you very much. It was positively infuriating."

"Well – that wasn't his fault – the Doctor's, I mean – he couldn't help it that you got 'demoted' when he turned up – "

"Trust me, Ianto, the Doctor very much enjoys stealing centre stage every chance he gets, and he has no problem holding onto the spotlight once he's got it. He wouldn't have been happy in any other arrangement – and frankly, I didn't stand a chance next to him. Still, he really _does_ have his moments," she said in an almost wistful voice. "Even though I was just as glad to get on with my life, I wouldn't have traded the time I spent with him for anything."

"He seems to have that affect on people," Ianto said without quite meaning to.

"He doesn't do it on purpose, you know – in fact he's quite hopelessly oblivious to the way that some people have fallen for him. I'm sure he doesn't wish it on them – for all that he can be full of himself, he's not unkind, just – well oblivious is a very good word to describe it."

"Did you – I mean – if you don't mind my asking – ?"

She chuckled and shook her head, "No – I was married to my work long before I met the Doctor. But that didn't stop me from comparing any number of men in my life to him – some stacked up better than others. But really – who could go out on a Saturday night with a banker or some fellow who works in an office after knowing someone whose spent nearly their entire life travelling through time and space?"

"I can see your point. Well – I should – see if things have – calmed down upstairs," he found himself forcing a congenial smile, regretting having asked about the Doctor… "If you need anything, Dr. Shaw, just let me know – "

"All right. And why don't you just call me Liz?"

"Liz – yes – well – if you need anything – just holler."

"Another cup of tea would be lovely – you've got quite a flare for it."

"Thank you, Ma'am – er – Liz – sorry – " he flushed a deep shade of pink. And Ianto was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he nearly barreled right into Jack who seemed to have been lurking at the top of the steps. Jack was wearing one of those cocky grins of his:

"Learn anything interesting?" he wanted to know.

Ianto couldn't quite meet his gaze; "I – don't know what you're talking about," he lied – then felt guilty. "Do ah – do you need anything – I'm just on my way to fetch some more tea – " _tea boy… _even if he knew he was more than that sometimes… _sometimes I really do wonder why he kept me around all those months… _

"I'm good – thanks. Gwen might need something, though."

"I'll check."

Liz watched the younger man's awkward retreat thoughtfully and considered the conversation she'd just had with him… She waited until she was certain Ianto was out of earshot before stating the obvious, "He's awfully sweet on you, you know."

"It's mutual," Jack's tone surprised her - it showed on her face. "Believe it or not, I really am capable of taking relationships seriously, Liz," he said, just a little too defensively.

"It's not what I believe that matters, now is it, Jack?"

………………………………………

"You all right?" Gwen asked Ianto when he came up from the med bay.

"Just fine," he snapped.

"Ianto?"

"Sorry – are you all right?"

"No. But I will be. The end is where we start from, right?" she offered up hopefully – somehow the words seemed to upset him more. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he lied – but he didn't expect that he was doing a very good job of it. "It's nothing I should be event thinking about right now, not with – werewolves roaming the streets – " the words sounded impossible, like lines out of a bad movie – as if on cue the pterodactyl flew past overhead… _my life is impossible… _and Wendy… a part of a past that felt so far removed he wasn't even sure he knew that person any more –

"It does sound crazy, doesn't it?" Gwen gave a small, cheerful smile. "Even for us."

_Us… we're all we have_… the three of them. "Yeah. Even for us. I was about to put some more coffee on – you fancy a cup?"

"Oh, I would love some – " The ring of her cell phone cut Gwen off – it wasn't Rhys, he had his own special ring-tone now. "Gwen Williams – yeah – yeah hang on – we'll be right there – no – do not approach – get your people out of the area – no, I'm_ not_ kidding, Sergent - get everyone out - we'll be right there," she hung up. "We'll have to put the coffee on hold – that was the police – there's been another sighting."

"I'll get Jack."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you!** For the kind words and reviews! I appreciate it tremendously :)

* * *

**Chapter Six:**

**Close Encounters**

* * *

_The sight of Ianto sleeping atop the tangle of satin sheets brought a smile to Jack's face, a warmth to his insides… _I seem to be able to depend on you no matter what life throws at us…_ John… Gray… now this… _I don't even know how to thank you for the last crisis, for being there, for keeping your head when Cardiff went up in flames… for keeping me from getting lost in the nightmares when I came back – and here we are in the middle of a new crisis... and here you are, Jones, Ianto Jones, right where I need you to be… _even if it was sacked out cold… Ianto hadn't even bothered to undress before falling into a heap there… Jack switched off the light – turned off the radio – managed to free one of the tangled sheets Ianto was laying on so he could pull it up over the sleeping man… something deep inside him stirred every time he looked at Ianto… it wasn't like with Estelle, it wasn't love at first sight – _lust maybe, at least after the pterodactyl incident..._Jack thought with a wry grin... it wasn't what he'd felt – what he still felt – for the Doctor –_ but there are all kinds of love and of all of them, I think this scares me the most… _because he'd never stopped loving Estelle, but he'd been able to walk away from her – for her own good, of course. _I could hardly give her the life I knew she wanted… can hardly give anybody the life I think they might want… heck, I don't even know what you want, but at least we have right now… here… today… _Jack knelt by the side of the bed and watched the younger man sleeping a while – listened to him breath… _You are so incredibly cute when you sleep – _"Not so bad when you're awake either," Jack whispered softly, flashing half a smile at the man in his bed. Ever so gently stroked the Ianto's cheek; even sleeping, Ianto responded to his touch with the ghost of a smile… _

..

Despite the pleasant feelings that the memory of watching Ianto sleep brought to him, the here and now beckoned uncomfortably at Jack in the form of Liz Shaw; he knew what she was trying to say – and he'd overheard some of her conversation with Ianto (there was a reason he'd been lurking in the shadows, after all)... But it had been months since he'd even mentioned the Doctor's name... _and I came back for you,_ he thought silently in Ianto's direction. He'd come back for all of them, but of them all... _all..._ Owen... Toshiko... Jack tried to let it go, at least for right now. _The end is where we start from and of all people, Owen and Tosh would be the ones telling me to stay focused, not let Cardiff get ripped apart by werewolves... _Liz seemed to be waiting for him to say more. "You know – no offence – but I didn't ask you to come all the way down here to help me out with my love life – unless you're finally going to take me up on my offer – "

"Doesn't that old routine ever get tiresome?"

"Not really," he favoured her with a wry half-grin, not particularly surprised that his tactic hadn't worked. For some reason, Liz was completely immune to his charm.

"Well – at any rate," she went on, "I was just making an observation. Isn't that what scientists do?" her tone was almost innocent enough to convince him. _Almost._

But before he could respond, Ianto was at the top of the stair – "Jack – Gwen just got a call from the locals – werewolf sighting."

"Right," he nodded and noticed that Liz was reaching for her coat – "Whoa – no way – you're stay _here_ – " he was not going to be responsible for her in the field, it was just too dangerous –

"I did_ not_ sit on a train full of teenagers coming back from spring holiday for nearly three hours _just_ to get here and sit around some more, Jack Harkness. I'm coming with you, end of discussion."

"Liz – we don't even know what we're really dealing with out there – "

"Which is why you need me in the field."

"I need you _here _– "

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself. However, if you'd really rather stand around and bicker about it, I should remind you that I've come up against men more stubborn than you – and won," she eyed Jack – he knew just who he was talking about.

Jack gave in begrudgingly, "But you stay in the truck once we get there. You can monitor the CCTV from – keep us posted – "

She nodded – and Jack was thankful that they didn't end up having to 'bicker' about it – he'd almost forgotten just how feisty Liz could be. _Typical red head…_ he asked Ianto to get her one of the guns he'd loaded with silver bullets from the storeroom –

"Thanks, but I brought my own," Liz pulled a large tranquilizer gun and case of large darts out of her bag.

"You have no idea whether or not that's going to be effective –"

"And you don't really know that silver is going to be effective – we just assume it is because of all the old stories."

"Grain of truth in every myth – besides, it was either this or mistletoe and I for one have no idea how to make a mistletoe bullet – you?"

"I suppose not," she gave him a dark little smile as they ascended the med-bay steps.

……………………………………………………………

Jack pulled the SUV to a stop just outside the police-line – he didn't like the fact that they were in the middle of downtown Cardiff and according to the latest report, there was at least one body on the scene… Jack took only the tiniest comfort in the knowledge that that person was a dead victim rather than an infectee… _sometimes death really is a blessing…_ he cast half a glance at Ianto while Gwen got out of the SUV to go talk to the police. Ianto didn't seem to notice – he was at the computer trying to get a visual using CCTV – so far the thing was eluding their efforts.

"It's almost like it knows to avoid the cameras," Ianto muttered.

Jack nodded – he'd been thinking the same thing but that would imply that the creature possessed at least near-human intelligence and _that_ was a very uncomfortable though. Gwen walked back towards them, looking grim… _This is taking a toll on both of them,_ Jack thought. But at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"I told the police to clear the area – but I don't know if they can, Jack – there's just too many people here – "

He nodded; the police would do the best they could – the rest of it would be up to Torchwood.

"I told them to stay away from the creature – and to have the coroner bag up the body but not to touch it any more than necessary – I said it was an animal that had escaped from a research facility, that it was infected with a virus – that it was only contagious through direct contact – nobody seemed to even want to think it might be anything else – "

_The last week has taken its toll on more than just us… the police – the people of this city –_ it was no wonder there were so many of them out trying to have a good time – trying to forget… "Good work, Gwen – you're with me – Ianto stay with Liz and keep trying to get a lock on that thing. No arguments," he added in Liz's direction.

"At least take this," she handed him the tranq gun. "_Try_ to catch it alive."

"No promises," but he took the weapon anyway. "Ianto – " _keep her safe… I don't want to lose anyone else – at least not tonight – _

Ianto nodded seeming to understand just what was being asked, although Jack could well imagine that none of them wanted to lose anyone else right now, even someone they'd only just met…

………………………………………

Ianto settled in front of his terminal – Liz sat next to him in the back, in front of the other. "Jack told me what happened," she said quietly –

She had to wear glasses to see the screen properly – regular granny glasses too – but Ianto had barely had to explain the system to her for her to catch on… he wondered if maybe she'd reconsider the job at Torchwood… _God knows we need someone right now…_ even a sixty some odd year old woman who needed glasses to read a computer screen in the semi-darkness. In response to her statement, he just nodded. There really wasn't much to be said.

"It's hardly my business – but – "

"Yeah," Ianto cut her off without quite meaning to. "It's been pretty rough," he added in a softer tone. He hadn't meant 'yes' to the not her business part – she was a friend of Jack's and that was more than good enough for him. "Did he tell you all of it – ?" Ianto asked, as he flipped through the camera screens, trying like hell to find the thing.

"You know Jack – I'm sure he left out the details he didn't think were important."

Which could mean a lot – Jack's idea of what was an important detail and other people's ideas of the same – an image flickered across one of the camera screens on his monitor – "There – Liz – "

"Got it," she confirmed, picking up the image on her screen as well.

"Jack – " Ianto spoke into the com – "Corner of Bristol and Market – heading north – "

"We're on it – good work," came Jack's reply.

"Ianto – " Liz pointed not at the screen but out the SUV window –

He followed her gesture – there was the other one, right in front of them, barely a hundred paces up and it was definitely watching them. Ianto couldn't help the lump of cold fear in his throat as he saw the look in its yellow eyes… it hadn't had him for dinner last night, but maybe to night he wouldn't get so lucky…

It stalked towards the SUV as if it really might recognize him – slowly, Ianto pulled his gun, "You have another one of those dart guns?" He asked, just out of curiosity.

"Gave the only one to Jack."

"Right. Well – let's hope he manages to get his alive then."

"You people don't _ever_ carry tranq guns – ?"

Ianto understood the question – _do we really kill everything… _he nodded towards the glove compartment – "Stun guns – you know, like tazers – more effective though. But sorry, I'm not planning on getting that close to Fang out there to use one." He handed her is back-up weapon – Jack had had them load all the guns with silver. "Just in case."

"Yeah. All right," Liz agreed, much to Ianto's surprise – but maybe she didn't fancy the idea of ending up as dog food either...

Ianto slid out of the SUV and had Liz follow him – he manuvered her behind him and was almost surprised when she didn't argue (he wondered vaguly if she was any good with a gun) – "Oh by the way, Jack," he said into his com, as he raised his own gun towards the slowly approaching werewolf, "How are you and Gwen coming?"

"We've got it in sight – why?"

"Good – Liz and I have had to step away from the SUV for a moment – but the ah – good news – is that we've got the other one."

"Ianto – "

"Situation is under control, Sir," he assured Jack with a calmness he didn't quite feel. So far the thing was just eyeing them – sizing them up – estimating the threat, perhaps –?

"I'll get there as soon as I can," Jack's voice shook Ianto loose of his thoughts.

"All right," _and be careful,_ Ianto added silently; Jack might not be able to die, but for all they knew he could still get infected by this thing and the thought of losing him like that was more than Ianto could take at the moment…_not that I'm real partial to the idea of ending up as dog food... _Ianto took a breath, let it out and squeezed the trigger, praying that the silver would really work – the piercing howl that the thing let out when the bullet struck it in the shoulder shook the night even more so than Ianto remembered from last night – _pain – _Ianto thought. The silver had hurt it – _really_ hurt it – even as he was processing the thought, feeling some shred of confidence return (confidence that they could actually stop these things) – the creature bolted out into the street – he swore under his breath – he swore even louder when Liz took off ahead of him after it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

**What is it to be Human?**

* * *

"Liz –_ Liz_ – !" first Ianto yelled, then he tried the com – she still didn't answer.

"Ianto – ?" Jack's voice over the link. "Everything still under control?"

"Barely – " he responded as he rounded the corner into the street – it wasn't hard to track them at least. The police had managed to get the immediate area clear. He was thankful to not have to deal with a crowd of pedestrians right now. "What about you?" Ianto asked; hadn't Liz said she was too old for this? She was at least a hundred yards ahead of him and keeping up a good pace with the wounded creature –

"Jack – " Gwen, "I think I've got it **_– shit!"_**

"Go on," Ianto said to Jack. "I've got this – "

"Jack – I lost it – !" Gwen continued to swear. "Jack – !"

"I'm on my way – Ianto – stay safe – " Jack said the last quietly.

"You too – both of you – " _I love you… _he added silently in Jack's direction – he tapped the link out and concentrated solely on running.

Ianto rounded another corner into the next alley way – Liz was on the fire escape ladder, almost two stories up already – the creature was three stories above her and bleeding from the shoulder wound. It turned to face him as soon as he burst into the alleyway – its eyes narrowed – Ianto skittered to a stop at the sight of it staring at him – at the way it stopped climbing away from them and started looking like it was going to pounce – like it wanted him in some personal and unpleasant way…

He tried to tell himself that that was impossible – it was just an animal – possessed of alien DNA maybe – and it had been human at one time – but it wasn't human now. _Not even remotely human… _Jack was right – and the look this thing was giving him now didn't make him feel particularly remorseful about the prospect of shooting it again.

"Ianto – !" Liz yelled when he raised his gun.

"I have to – ! If it gets away it could infect the whole city!" _the whole world…_ _it really is like being trapped in a bad horror movie…_Ianto thought grimly. The first shot hit the thing in the side – howling in pain, it half fell, half jumped down to just a few feet from where Liz was clinging to the ladder – _not tonight, Jack – you won't lose another friend tonight…_Ianto promised. The second round hit the creature square in the head – it made a sound – a yelp – a cry – it was short lived – the creature fell to the alley – it was human again before it hit the pavement with a bone breaking thump.

Ianto moved forward slowly – he doubted it was still alive – but he wasn't taking any chances – except – when he got close – he realized – _he's just a boy… not more than eighteen or nineteen years old_… His body was broken – naked – blood oozed from the wounds in his side and shoulder – and although Ianto could make out most of his face, little of the back of his head remained… Ianto felt his gorge rise. _He's just a **fucking kid** – _not a monster – not – not an alien – a boy no older than he'd been when Wendy took him in out of the rain –

"Ianto?" Liz called down.

He looked up at her, "It – he's just a kid – " he shook himself. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine – are you?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine – Jack – ?" Ianto tapped his com; at the same time, he holstered his gun and pulled off his suit coat to lay it over the boy's broken body – the last thing he wanted was some drunk wandering into the alleyway for a piss and seeing _this_, see _him_ standing over the shattered body of a dead kid.

Jack responded a moment later that he was still there; he sounded out of breath. "Status?" he asked.

"Got it. Dead. Liz and I are both fine. See you back at the SUV." Ianto looked down at the body again. It was at least partially covered... _but he's just a kid... and I killed him... _

"Ianto – behind you – !" the alarm in Liz's voice brought Into out of his daze, but not quickly enough to act – it was the other one, the one that had gotten away from Gwen and Jack. He turned just as it sprang from the entrance to not more than two feet from Ianto's nose, completely blocking him off from any kind of escape out to the street.

Ianto swallowed – it looked at him – looked at the body – sniffed the air – looked back at him – and this time he knew it understood that he had been the one to kill it's – it's whatever their relation was, this wasn't the time to start considering werewolf social interaction, _the point,_ Ianto told himself, _is that I'm not real sure I'm going to live to see tomorrow… _it stepped closer and he stepped back – "Liz – I know how you feel, but this would be a really great time to re-think your ethics and shoot – !" Ianto hollered up to her as the creature took another step forward – he took another step backwards, almost tripping over the body – he stepped over it – the thing continued to approach, slowly – one step at a time, like it was really in no particular hurry to kill him, but it most definitely was going to kill him – "Liz!"

"I can't get a clear shot – !"

"Ianto – we're almost to you – !" Jack's voice came over the com –

"I'm not sure that's going to be much help, Sir – " Ianto found himself backed up against wall with a pair of dark brown eyes staring into him – "Look – sorry about your mate there," he said to the creature, although he realized that it chances of it actually being able to understand him were slim to none. "You know – slathering monster and all that – I didn't have much choice really – " very slowly, he reached for his gun – it seemed as if the thing was just – waiting – staring him down – it was close enough that he could have reached out and touched it if he'd dared. He felt his hand grip the gun but was afraid that the movement it would take to get it out of the holster might provoke the thing more than it was already provoked – so far it was just looking at him, just the way it had last night. Watching. Waiting. Was it sizing him up as its next meal or it's next victim, he wondered… neither option appealed. "_Can_ you understand me?" he asked it – no harm at this point after all… "Because if you can, this can end a whole lot differently than for your friend there – I really didn't have a choice – " _or at least I didn't think I did_ – "But if you understand – maybe we can – work something out – " _ok, so I'm grasping at straws here…_ Ianto admitted to himself... _but anything to keep from getting my face eaten off... _

"Ianto – !" It was Jack and Gwen, at the entrance to the alleyway.

The thing turned – Ianto pulled his gun out – he was shaking – the creature snapped its head back around to look at him – but – he could swear that the expression was – fear – ? Did it really understand…? Could it? Wasn't it just a monster – an animal – ? "I didn't know he was just a boy," Ianto found himself saying. "I'm sorry – "

"Damn it Jack – !" Liz yelled from above – "Don't shoot to kill! Use the tranq - !"

Ianto couldn't see what was happening – but he saw the expression of pain cross the creature's face – he heard the thing cry out – it was almost human sounding just then – then jumped past him – up the fire escape – past Liz – over the top of the building –

He could move again – instinct took over – Ianto took off after it, even as Jack called his name – up the ladder – across the roof – the tranq seemed to have slowed it down – he was catching up to it – it tried to jump to the next rooftop but stumbled and fell into the darkness of the street below –

Ianto found the fire escape and scrambled down after it – there was a trail of blood – he wondered (briefly) if the blood was as dangerous as the saliva… _ this could be a disaster…_ his lungs burned in his chest – the creature retreated into the darkness of another alley – Ianto followed, slower now, one foot in front of the other, his heart pounding, the taste of salt on his lips – he held his gun ready – no light from the street penetrated the alley walls – "I know you're in here. I can hear you breathing – I know you're hurt – " he wasn't sure if it could really understand him or not – but for half a second there it had seemed as if it had – _maybe some small part of its human self is still in there somewhere…_ "I know it doesn't seem like it, but we don't really want to hurt you – " _maybe it could still be reasoned with... but then what... _there was no cure... but wasn't anything better than killing it if they didn't have to?

The sound of footsteps behind him announced Jack's arrival –

"Somebody's been eating their Weetabix," Jack teased, slightly out of breath, his own gun drawn and at the ready.

Ianto ignored the joke (even if inwardly he felt a small surge of pleasure at the compliment.) "The tranquilizer seems to be working. It fell from the roof – there's a trail of blood – "

"Liz is on it – Gwen's getting the body loaded into the SUV."

Ianto nodded; he was oblivious to the look of concern on Jack's face – the way he'd taken off after the thing as if nothing else mattered – even if nothing else did matter, nothing was worth getting eaten over…

Ianto inched further into the shadows with Jack right behind him – he could barely hear the Captain's footsteps over the beating of his own heart, the sound of his own breath –

The body crouched in the shadows was definitely human. Wounded. Bleeding. Alive. _Frightened – _Ianto and Jack both realized it – Jack touched his arm – Ianto nodded –

"We know you're scared," Jack's voice was steady, "But if you can understand me – we want to help – we know this isn't your fault – we know you were infected –"

She looked up then – and Ianto felt his knees threatening to give way; he knew that face – those brown eyes, red with tears – the tumble of black hair – he wasn't aware of the sound of his own voice – the sound of her name in his throat – _Wendy…_ Ianto backed into – "Jack – "

"Ianto – " they both seemed to say his name at once – one disparaging, accusing – the other comforting – Wendy – Jack – it felt as if the world had suddenly turned on its ear – he'd almost shot her – point blank – he'd almost killed her the way he'd killed that boy – she fell forward, unconscious –

Jack eased the gun from his shaking hands and held him while he shook – while he babbled – of all the people in this world for one of these things to have infected – why her? Why_** her**_ – ! "She never hurt anybody, Jack – she never – she's not capable – _**why **_–why_** her**?"_

"I don't know," Jack's breath was warm on his ear – "I'm sorry, Ianto – I'm so sorry…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

**Straws**

f

* * *

Ianto barely remembered the ride back to the hub – barely remembered Jack sitting with him in the back of the SUV – holding him – looking as helpless – as hopeless – as Ianto felt.

Ianto watched Gwen haul Wendy, still unconscious down to the vaults… to a cell… _like an animal…_ he wanted to protest, but what would he say? That she wasn't dangerous? They had one dead body – besides the boy's – to prove that she was. They'd all seen her – seen what she was and no matter how much he wanted it to be a mistake – to be somebody else (anybody else) – it wasn't…. _This can't be happening – _

It didn't occur to Ianto to wonder why Jack was letting Gwen do all the work – Gwen and Liz – they brought the two bodies into the hub – down to the medical bay while Jack just sat with him – "This can't be happening," he murmured aloud, again, not really hearing his own voice. "She's not like that, Jack – she's – she's a good person – she – she took me in – saved my life – made me bologna sandwiches!"

"I know."

Ianto looked up at him – realized finally that Jack hadn't left his side since – _since they found her… _

"My God – I could have killed her – " but Jack would say that he should have –

"But you didn't."

Ianto stared – Jack's face was impossible to read. "So what now?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"She's – she's a good person Jack – an ordinary – normal – good person – she's – she's the kind of person who would let a complete stranger sleep on her sofa – !" he broke – tears – sobs – _this can't be happening… _"It's like Lisa all over again," his voice was a hoarse whisper and he knew he hadn't meant to say that, hadn't meant to bring up the one thing he never brought up, not with Jack – it was the one thing they never talked about – the one thing they both seemed content to conveniently forget… "I'm sorry – "

"Hey – hey – " Jack took him squarely by the shoulders, "You have nothing to be sorry for – you didn't know – you couldn't have known –"

"Jack, I don't know if I can do this," he said, even though he wasn't sure what it was he couldn't do – anything – everything – ?

Ianto was surprised by the force with which Jack hugged him – held him – by the softness of Jack's voice in his ear telling him that they'd figure something out.

"It had to have happened when she was in Ireland – or – or I don't know when – " the words tumbled out in rush. "She wasn't like this before – she couldn't have been – we sat up late so many nights talking – laughing – she listened to all of my stupid teenaged problems, Jack. She's a good person – the best – you'd like her – she's funny and – and kind – and – and _**why **_her?"

"Ianto – " Liz's voice, not Jack's – she was standing next to him – them – Jack was still holding him – "You need to get some rest – here – "

"What's that?" – it looked like a pill – a glass of water –

"Just a mild sedative. It'll help you get a little sleep."

"No – no – I'm fine," he lied. "I don't want to sleep – "

"Maybe you don't want to – but you need to," she told him.

"No – " he shook his head; he didn't need sleep, he needed to figure out how this had happened – when – _I need to wake up in Jack's bed and find out that this was all just a nightmare brought on by that chili… _"Really, I'm fine," he forced a smile, straightened up a little, even forced himself to pull away from Jack's warm strength even though he didn't want to – if he could just prove that he was all right, that he could get through – be helpful –

"It's not up for debate," Jack's tone was absolute.

He debated it anyway: "Jack – I can't just cozy off to bed while you – while you do whatever it is you're going to do – " sounding rational was a struggle and Ianto knew he was losing the fight. "Please Jack – don't shut me out of this – "

"I'm not shutting you out – I just want you to get some rest – I promise – I'm not going to _do_ anything – "

"But you have to – you can't just let her run around – " Ianto knew the drill – he'd taken over the 'care and feeding' of the residents in the basement the last few days – the thought of Wendy down there sent him reeling – Jack caught him – held him, even when he tried to pull away, to prove that he was all right even though they all knew different. "She could infect the whole city," Ianto said softly. But the thought of her rotting away down there like some animal in a cage… "You have to do something because she could infect the whole city." ff

"I'll figure something out," Jack promised in that same absolute tone he'd used with Ianto a moment ago; he cupped the younger man's face between his hands and refused to let go, even when Ianto tried to turn away.

He searched Jack's face – his eyes – looking for some clue that it was really going to be all right – somehow – somehow he could get through just one more thing and then it was going to be all right again – _but how can I be so fucking selfish…_ he asked himself angrily. _How could I think about how** I'm** going to get through this when I might not be here at all – not right here – not right now – with you – I wouldn't be here with you if she hadn't taken me in… I wasn't any older than that kid when she found me… _he closed his eyes trying to shake the image of the boy he'd shot – killed – _it could have been her… but it wasn't… _Jack's voice in his head – Jack's promise that he'd figure something out. "Yesterday – when she came to my flat – she was the_ same_ person she'd always been. The same smile, the same laugh – the same everything. She was my Wendy."

"I know – I believe you."

"She can't help what happened to her –_ please_ Jack – don't leave me out of this."

"Let Liz give you the sedative – you can go lay down in my quarters – I won't do anything until you're back with us. I promise. You can trust me, Ianto."

Ianto looked at him long and hard – but there was nothing there to suggest Jack was lying… _and he wouldn't lie to me… he told me I could trust him… he promised… and the last couple of days…_ "All right," Ianto gave in. He wasn't sure his body even needed something to help it sleep, he felt so weary – exhausted right to the core. The last forty eight hours – the forty eight hours before that – _but for just a second there, things had almost been good – almost – normal… _Ianto looked at Jack again and took the pill from Liz. Swallowed it – drank the water. He didn't feel any different after it went down, the world was still reeling – his insides were still churning – and Jack was still holding him .

"Come on," Jack helped Ianto to his feet, "I'll walk you up – "

"You don't have to, Sir – "

"I don't mind," Jack said with a tight little smile – he surprised Ianto by putting an arm around his waist – this was all so unlike Jack – even when it was just the two of them, the most he ever got was the occasional touch – a little look – a flirtatious comment – but right at the moment, Ianto wasn't inclined to think about it overly much, even if he didn't let himself fully lean in on Jack until they'd cleared the main area of the hub… he cast one quick glance at the older man's face – Jack gave him another tight little smile – he didn't say it would be all right (they both knew it wouldn't be), but he did pull Ianto in, just a little closer in response to the arm Ianto finally slid around his shoulders…

Jack guided him into the bedroom and suggested that Ianto might want to wash up a little – cool water on his face – maybe another glass of water – get comfortable – he might even have a pair of pajama bottoms lying around somewhere if he looked hard enough –

Ianto just nodded and headed into the bathroom; he seemed to be shutting off, bit by bit and it was killing Jack to watch it happen, to watch Ianto slip away like this… _the straw that broke the camel's back_… he thought as he made up the bed for Ianto… _too much hurt in too short a time ­–_ the human mind – the human heart – it could only take so much before it refused to take any more – before it shut down – shut everything out, turned itself off – but Jack didn't know what he'd do himself if he was in the younger man's shoes any more than he knew how to reach in and get hold of what was left inside before the Ianto he knew and loved was really gone – _but maybe he'd rather shut down than face what he saw today… _God knew there were days when Jack felt that way.

Ianto came out of the bedroom in just his shorts. Under other circumstances, Jack might have made a comment guaranteed to garner him a blush of pink in the younger man's cheeks, but not today. "We'll figure something out, Ianto," he said the only thing he could; he couldn't promise that it would be all right because he wasn't at all sure that it would and the last thing Ianto needed was an empty promise. A lie. "I – I don't know what – but we'll figure something out."

Ianto just nodded – he let Jack help into the bed – curled himself up into a ball hugging Jack's pillow –

_I do love you…_ Jack almost said the words – but – but this wasn't the time – it wasn't the right place or the right circumstance – _and what if he thinks I'm saying it just because he's hurting…_ so Jack just laid a hand on Ianto's shoulder – leaned in – kissed his forehead, promised them both silently that he wouldn't wait forever to take Liz's advice about speaking up – he wasn't sure Ianto was even aware of his presence, he'd retreated so far into himself – "Just get some rest," Jack said gently as he straightened back up. He was caught off guard when Ianto spoke, his voice a hollow whisper:

"Stay with me – please –? Just – just for a few more minutes – " the brokenness in Ianto's tone tore right through him –

Jack sat down on the edge of the bed – he tapped his com unit to let Gwen and Liz know that he'd be in his quarters but out of touch for a while – he slipped it off the earpiece, setting it on the night table and curled himself protectively around the younger man's body, "I'll stay as long as you need me to," he promised.

Ianto relaxed into him, let himself be held – held on right back, as if he knew he was slipping away and might be trying not to. "She saved my life, Jack. Maybe it wasn't from a weevil or – or some other alien – but she saved my life – that counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does." _But she's not herself anymore… _only saying it out loud wouldn't help the situation. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Ianto's shoulder – _I'll figure something out… we won't lose someone else –** you** won't lose someone else – not tonight… _

"Jack – I – " he faltered – stayed silent a long moment then simply said 'thank you.'

"You're welcome," he pulled Ianto in just a little closer and held him there until he was certain that Ianto was asleep…


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

**Wendy  
**

* * *

_Wendy brought a wine bottle and two glasses out onto the patio – the sun was just setting – the air was a little chilly, but Wendy had lit a fire in her little bbq to keep them warm.. Conventional wasn't anywhere in her vocabulary… The view wasn't much, but most of the old factory was obscured from view by the plants she had growing in the enormous pots on the patio – he didn't know what they were, just that their blooms made the night air smell like perfume… like her… _

_Ianto smiled up in Wendy's direction and took the bottle from her hands. Trying desperately to be a gentleman, he did the honours of opening it. It was just a screw-off cap, but he wanted to impress her, even if he quite know why._

_"Merky-buttercups," Wendy grinned as he filled her glass._

_He laughed, feeling the pleasant rush of warmth he always felt when it was just the two of them. _

_Wendy settled in next to him on the blanket, her shoulder right up against his; he laid his head against her comfortably. This was good… maybe someday they could get out to the country, just the two of them… _but for right now, this is really, **really** good, _Ianto sipped at the cheap wine, not knowing enough to know how truly awful it really was… _

_"You're going to have to deal with your family eventually, you know," she said at length._

_"Why?"_

_"Because they're your family."_

_"Why?"_

_"Why are they your family? I should think you understood the basics of the birds and bees by now, Ianto," she teased._

_He laughed despite the cold hard feeling he got in his gut every time he thought about his parents. "No, I meant why do I have to deal with them** just **because they're my family –** they** certainly don't seem to think that counts for much."_

_"Yan – I know what it's like not to have anybody – what it's like not to have parents who love you – "_

_"They don't love me – they don't even like me."_

_"They do love you – "_

_He gave her a look._

_"If they didn't love you, they wouldn't be so angry – and if you didn't love them, neither would you."_

_He sighed; he hated it when she was right (which was most of the time.) "They'll never accept anything about me." _Hell, I don't even understand half of what I'm feeling…Aaron... Tarra... Wendy... _her hand on his knee was comforting – confusing – he curled his fingers around hers anyway. "Some days I wish I could just run away – really run away – to the other side of the world – just leave them behind and change my name and – and just never have to deal with any of this again! I hate bloody Cardiff!"_

_She chuckled softly, sipped her wine and gave his hand a warm squeeze, "It won't go away until you face it, Sweetheart. You just have to stand tall – be honest – be yourself – "_

_"I tried that, remember? It's how I ended up on your sofa."_

_"Well you can't say that was such a bad thing, now can you?" _

_He flushed a deep shade of pink – she giggled... _

…………………………………

Despite the sedative, Ianto stirred back to wakefulness just a little while after Jack left him. He was alone – in the dark – and everything ached inside… But he was surrounded by Jack's scent – his satin sheets – memories of lying curled up with his handsome Captain… Ianto rolled over had found Jack's pillow again, curling himself around it… the pain didn't go away. All he could think about was cheap wine and bologna sandwiches and little fires on the patio… her laugh… her listening… her eyes staring up at him in the alleyway, the look she gave him, like she knew he'd killed that boy…_like she knew how close I came to killing her… _"I just didn't know," he whispered aloud to the dark. _How could I have known…_ "But you knew me – you didn't kill me – you could have – twice." He was sure of it … _but you didn't... _Did that really mean she'd known him – recognized him? Was that even possible? Did it mean she somehow retained some tiny bit of her humanity when she was like that…? _But then why did they kill the man whose body the police had found…?_ Nothing was making sense and Liz's sedative wasn't working, even if part of him wished it would – wished he could sleep and just forget it all for a while…_ just wake up and have it be a nightmare… _

He pulled himself out of the sheets, away from Jack's scent and made his way into the bathroom for a long hot shower, hoping that maybe the heat of it would do something for how cold he felt inside…

…………………………………………….

Gwen was so absorbed in what she was doing at her station, she didn't hear Jack until he was almost on top of her; she looked up, wearing a worried expression: "How is he?"

"Sleeping," Jack answered the only way he knew how. "What're you working on?" he leaned over to see what was on her screen. It looked like old CCTV footage – Wendy. Gwen must've used the facial recognition software to track her movements over the last few days… it looked like she'd visited a few thrift shops – grocery store – walked around a little – nothing odd – nothing to indicate she had any idea she wasn't the same ordinary human being she'd always been.

"I didn't know what else to do – " Gwen sounded as helpless as he felt – as afraid as he was that they might lose Ianto…_too much… too much in too little time…the human heart just wasn't made to take so much hurt… _"I just – I had to do something," Gwen went on, "I thought maybe if we knew more about her – " clearly Ianto wasn't the only one hurting…_ we all are… _

"Good thinking," Jack laid a hand on Gwen's shoulder; she tensed, then relaxed under his touch, a small smile flickering across her face at the compliment and he realized just how much they looked up to him… _responsibility…_ his parting words to the Doctor… "So – what did you find out?"

"Not much. She was born near Llandrindod Wells – both parents deceased – no brothers or sisters – she was raised by the state."

"Tough way to grow up."

Gwen nodded, "It looks like she started working when she was sixteen – waitress – shop girl – bartender – coffee shop barrista – "

"Apparently our Ianto learned his coffee magic from a werewolf – " he flashed half a smile.

"She's a real person, Jack – a human being – and we've got her locked up next to weevils – "

"No. She _was_ a human being. I don't know what she is now, but she's not human, not any more."

Gwen looked up at him, then back at her screen again. "I didn't do anything useful here, did I?" she sounded so incredibly disappointed.

"I don't know," Jack leaned in a little closer. "What about the last five years? Ianto said something about a backpacking trip she was supposed to take across Northern Ireland – " because surely Ianto would have known if his roommate was a werewolf. Even if he'd missed it at the time, looking back now he'd be able to recognize – something – wouldn't he? Wouldn't anyone? _And what would have happened if he'd gone with her…_ Jack wondered, even though he didn't want to think about it… _because if he had, it could be **him** locked up downstairs… or lain out in the med lab… _if Ianto had gone with her – if Northern Ireland was really where it happened – _it might be him we'd be trying to figure out what to do with… _and even the realization that he would be a stranger – just some poor kid who got himself infected didn't help… _he'd still be somebody's friend – somebody's lover – somebody that someone would miss… cry for… _was there somebody else out there, he wondered, who was missing Wendy Shutten or that kid Ianto had shot…? _Everybody is someone's friend, someone's lover – somebody's son or daughter, mother or father… somebody's brother… _Gwen was speaking:

"She hasn't worked much the last five years – only job of record was in a pub in a little called Innisfree two years back – lasted about eight months – nothing since then."

"See if you can get me anything on the area – unsolved cattle and sheep mutilations – dead cats – whatever – I don't care, I want _anything_ that will help us get a handle on this – "

"How many people do you think she might have infected, Jack – ? Assuming she really got infected there – then – " she faltered, "How many – ? How many more of these creatures are there running around and we don't even know about it? And what are we going to do – kill them all – ?"

"I don't know," he told her the truth, straightening back up. "But I want you to get over to Ianto's flat – gather up all of this woman's things – bring it back here and start going through everything – maybe there'll be some kind of clue – something we missed or haven't even thought of yet."

"All right. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get some answers." He only hoped that the only person who could give them to him was awake by now and feeling cooperative…. "Gwen," he called over his shoulder, "Don't forget Ianto's laptop – "

"His laptop? Why?"

"I want to know what websites she's been on – emails – anything – and get his phone records for the last few days, find out if she's called anybody since she's been there."

Gwen nodded and headed out of the hub…

On his way down to the basement, Jack poked his head over the med-bay railing to see if Liz had anything he could use –

"Give me another hour," she answered before he could ask.

"Can't you at least give me a preliminary – ?"

She looked up, clearly peeved at being asked. "I can tell you how he died, but I should think that was obvious."

"Yes." _Should have known better… _

"There is one thing, though," Liz said in a more civil tone, "I'm not sure it's really helpful, but it's interesting."

"I'll take whatever you've got."

"I've heard that before," she managed to crack a small smile – Jack answered it with on of his own and leaned onto the railing while she talked: "As far as I've been able to tell so far, the boy – as yet unidentified, by the way – I've got the computer checking overseas data bases but it could just be he doesn't have a record of any sort – but – as I was saying," (Jack refrained from commenting that she had reminded him of the Doctor just then), "At least as far as I've been able to tell so far, he doesn't have any of the usual sorts of shape-shifting organs one would expect to see in a poly-morphic being. In fact – if I didn't know better – I would say that there was nothing at all out of the ordinary about the lad – save for being dead."

Jack frowned.

"Did you compare his DNA to the sample you brought?"

She gave him another look.

"Sorry – stupid question."

"It's not what I'd call a perfect match – but it's too close for them not to be related at least distantly – definitely the same species, I just have no idea what that species is. Like I said - it isn't much."

"It's more than I had five minutes ago. Thanks, Liz," he turned to leave.

"Jack – try to remember that she's very probably oblivious to what's happening to her – she may not even remember how she got into that alleyway last night, all she knows is that she's injured and frightened – "

"Tell that to that guy," he motioned towards the other corpse.

Liz sighed and went back to work.

………………………………

Jack took a deep breath – held it a second – and then let it out before opening the door to the row of cells. He_ was_ trying to remember what Liz had said – everything that Ianto had said – but all he could think about was what Gwen had asked: how many were there and what were they going to do about it…

He took carefully measured strides down the hall – weevils snarled briefly as he passed – they'd been more anxious than usual the past few days, like they'd been affected by everything that happened, too…_but why shouldn't they be… ? Just because they're not as intelligent as we are, that doesn't mean they're not affected by it all…_ they had feelings, they understood pain – _and maybe someday we'll find a way to send them back to where they'd come from…_

He found Wendy huddled in a corner in the very last cell, clinging to the blanket Gwen must've covered her up with after locking her up… _leave it to Gwen to think of something like that, to put her as far away from the rest of the residents as possible…_ He looked her over – it was hard to believe she was really the same thing they'd shot at – twice – in the last two nights. "Sorry about the accommodations," Jack leaned up against wall across from her.

She looked up at him – briefly – then looked away. Anger. Hatred. Fear. _Pain…_ Physically, she looked none the worse for ware, but there were all kinds of pain and Jack knew it.

"Do you remember what happened to you before you passed out?" He softened his tone a little. If she really had no idea… _then what…?_

She seemed not to want to oblige him with an answer, however, or even look at him again.

"Do you remember anything at all?"

Still nothing.

"I know who you are – who you were," he stepped closer to the plexiglass and noticed the way she shrank further back into the shadows, away from him…_afraid…_ he could see it in her eyes. She was trying to cover it with anger – hate – but she was afraid… _does she remember…? _"I – I don't want to hurt you – but you've got to tell me the last thing you remember. It's important that we figure out what's going on here – "

That earned him a sharp glare.

"Look, I know it doesn't seem like it – but we want to help you – "

"All _you_ want is kill us. That's what you do – !" her voice caught and she looked away.

_Us…_however was all Jack had heard; he swallowed a cold lump of genuine fear. "You mean – there are more out there – like you – ?" _ is it too late, do we **already **have an epidemic… ?_ "How many – ? Wendy – how many more of you are there – ?"

Her small stream of tears turned into a sob when he called her by name. "What have you done to him – ?" her voice was so soft, Jack almost missed that –

"What?"

"Who are you people?"

"Torchwood. Ring any bells?"

"No. Should it?"

"How many of you are there?" He asked again –

Just then, the door at the end of the hall creaked open – Ianto – it looked like he'd showered, put on a fresh suit – the red shirt Jack liked so much – but he still looked so pale – stricken – "You shouldn't be here," Jack told said in a gentle tone.

"I need to be here, Sir. _Please_."

_Sir… _he'd started using it again after Tosh and Owen… Jack shook himself… the look on Ianto's face was one he couldn't ignore, no matter how hard he tried. He stepped back and nodded for Ianto to come the rest of the way down.

And he watched her face when Ianto got to the end of the hall – when he stood, staring in at her, scarcely breathing – it was impossible for Jack to believe that this Wendy didn't feel for Ianto all the things he felt for her, the pain – the look of betrayal in her eyes – the way she leaned forward, just a little – the way she looked at him, just there, out of the corner of her eye like she placed the blame every hurt she was feeling right at Jack's feet… very few people had looked at him with quite that much hatred before… _what have you done to him…_ had she meant Ianto?

"Can I – have a few minutes – alone – ?" Ianto asked him, in an unsteady tone.

_No – _"Yeah – yeah all right. I won't be far," Jack touched his shoulder, wishing he could do more – say more – _say something that would help…_ Jack was surprised when Ianto touched his hand – it was just a brush of the younger man's finger tips against his – but it was so out of character for Ianto…_but I can't say I don't like it..._he cast a last look in Ianto's direction, silently asking him if he was sure he wanted to do this – Ianto nodded. Jack returned it and left, even though it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do right now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

**Questions**

* * *

**  
**Ignoring the churning in his gut, Ianto forced his gaze away from Jack's. He still couldn't make himself look into the cell, at what they'd done to her... he stared at the cool grey wall and listened to Jack retreating, wondering just how far away he was really going to go… _probably just like he said... _

For a long while, Ianto just stood there with his head pressed against the wall, not looking at anything in particular – he could feel the cold of her stare, but when he looked into the cell, she turned away. She'd been crying. She was scared. At least someone had thought to give her a blanket…_probably Gwen… _"I ah – I thought I knew what I wanted to say," Ianto barely recognized the sound of his own voice, "Thought I had it all figured out," which was a lie, he just knew he wanted to be here – to be a part of figuring it all out, "But now I realize I don't know what to say – I mean – what do you say when you find out – well – I guess I really _could_ call you my best friend, seeing as you're the only friend I have outside this place," _and Hallmark doesn't make greetings cards for these sorts of occasions... "_I don't know what to say after last night. Do – do you remember – what happened to you?"

"It's hard to forget being shot," her voice was hoarse – full of pain.

"Are you all right – I mean – ?" _Liz at least looked at her wounds – didn't she – ?_

"I'm sure the others will be pleased to know I'll live."

"Do you need anything?"

"Just for you to open the door – "

"I'm sorry – I can't do that."

She turned to him then – the look in her eyes – the hurt – betrayal – it was like last night only worse – "I would rather die than live like this, Inato."

"Don't talk like that."

"Why? Because it makes you uncomfortable?"

"Yes," he told her honestly. "And because you're not going to have to live like this for long - and you're not going to die here, either. I know you don't believe me - I don't blame you - and I'm sorry - but I – I have to ask you some questions – "

"You're right. I don't believe you."

"I'm _going_ to help you – but we need to understand some things about you first – _please - _"

"You weren't interested in understanding last night. He was barely seventeen you know – a boy – a stupid mixed up boy – you never even gave him a chance."

"I didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice, Ianto. _Always_. If there weren't, you'd be dead."

"Why didn't kill me – ? Why did you keep him from hurting me the other night in the park?"

"I thought you were just – wrong place – wrong time – I didn't realize you were with them – the American and that woman – "

"And if you had known I was with them?"

"I don't know – I'm sorry."

Ianto shook his head, "Doesn't matter. How long – ?"

"How long?"

"How long have you been like that?"

"How long have _you_ been like that?"

"What?"

"How long have you been Welsh? Male? Bisexual? Take your pick. How long have you been like_ that_ - ?"

Ianto blinked – "That's different. I was born like this – you were attacked – infected – "

Her laugh was cold, "You watch too many horror movies, Ianto – either that or they've been filling your head with lies," she glanced up at the security camera. "I was born like this – with two skins, this one and the 'slathering monster' – it's a birthright – a heritage and I'm proud of it, as proud of you are of yours – nothing they say can take that away from me. Nothing can change the fact that I was this way when I invited you in out of the rain and made you tea, either. I'm _not _the one who changed – it's not just the suit – the hair – the Ianto Jones I knew and loved would **_never_** have done what I saw you do last night."

With her every word, he felt his insides grow tighter - colder. _She's right... _"Five years is a long time. A lot of things happened."

"The American."

"He's one of the things that's happened, yes. One of the good things." He resisted the urge to glance up at the camera himself; Jack was watching. Wherever he was standing, Jack was watching.

"He's your someone special," it wasn't really a question.

"Yes."

She squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears came harder anyway.

"Wendy – "

"So do _you_ enjoy it then – the thrill of the hunt?"

"The _what_ –?"

"I can smell it – the blood – the death – he hunts – him and that woman – and – you," she looked like she didn't want to believe what she was saying, "He's the one who turned you into this, isn't he? The pesron I knew never would have hurt anybody and five years wouldn't have been enough to change that – "

"Jack isn't like that – that's not what we do here – "

"I can smell it on him! I can hear those – those whatever they are down there – locked up – waiting in cages – waiting to die here. Death permeates this place – it's in every crack – every corner – I can feel it in my bones – I can _smell _it. Even in human skin, I can smell it."

_Owen…_ Ianto wondered... but it wasn't just Owen, it was this place. Before Jack took over, Torchwood Three was a very different organization and he knew it. "You don't know the whole story, Wen," _don't know how many times Jack has died for this city… this world… _

"I only care about how you turned into this person that I barely recognize. I knew it in your flat that day but here – seeing you like this – seeing him – what happened to you?"

Ianto knelt down so he could really look her in the eye. "Five years ago I moved to London. I met a girl. She was called Lisa and I was so in love with her – she made me feel more alive than I'd ever felt before. More happy than I'd ever been. And when she died – I died with her. Twice."

"Twice?"

"It doesn't matter – what matters is that Jack helped me put the pieces back together. He's not what you think he is – "

She glanced up at the security camera again and slid closer – "Ianto, please – listen to me – I don't know what he's told you but it's not true – everything you people believe about us – it's _not_ true – you _know_ me! I'm not a – a slathering monster – !"

"One of you killed a man last night –!"

"Yes."

"Was it you?"

"No. Do you believe me?

"Of course I do. But I still want to know why he died – do you know – did it matter – ? Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"His name was Edwin Burgess. He was a hunter. Big game. _Very_ big game."

The knot in Ianto's stomach hardened. "So – what – happened? Why –?"

"Two months ago Collin's brother was murdered – "

"Collin – ?"

"Collin Parker. The seventeen year old boy you shot and killed. He had a brother – Burgess killed him in cold blood - for sport. Collin tracked him here – only that's not our way, we don't kill, not like that. I was sent to Cardiff to find Collin – bring him back – he _would _have been punished – but **_not_** exicuted."

"I am sorry, Wendy – I didn't know he was a kid – I couldn't have known."

"Would it have made any difference if you had?"

"I – I don't know. But it would have made a difference if I'd understood – "

"Would it have?"

"I want to help you – "

"Then let me go."

"I can't – "

"Because of him," she glanced up at the camera again. "Ianto – _please_," her voice dropped to a bare whisper, "I could have killed you. I didn't. But I can feel the death in this place and I know what he's going to do to me – I can see it in his eyes – and I know you don't want to believe me, but I swear to you that there is something so wrong with that man – it's more than just the scent of blood – I don't know what it is, but he is so _wrong_. Please – if you don't believe anything else, at least believe that he's _wrong_ –"

"I know." _A fixed point in time… _it looked like Jack affected werewolves much the same way he affected Time Lords…

"No – Ianto – please – on my mother's grave, there is something so wrong about that man – "

"Wendy – I know."

Her breath caught in her throat – she understood, he knew that Jack was different… "And you're still with him – ?"

"Yes. But you're wrong about him. And maybe he's wrong about you too. Let me help you – "

"There's nothing you can do for me."

"Let me try – "

"Leave me alone. Please. Please just – just get out and leave me alone – "

"Not like this." _I don't want to lose one more person _– _not like this..._

……………………….………

"You can't blame her," Liz said to Jack; he'd routed the CCTV security feed into the medical bay – not that the second autopsy was proving particularly interesting. Edwin Burgess (whose ID had been in his wallet) was a Caucasian man of fifty seven years who had been mauled to death in the street and since they knew by what, there was no mystery.

"Do you believe her story – ?" Jack asked.

"There's no logical reason to think that that the alien DNA _couldn't_ have been somehow incorporated into a family line – we don't really even know what the original species is or why or how it has this particular affect on human DNA when it comes into contact with it."

"But she said it wasn't transmitted through saliva – " or at least that's what he'd taken her statement about too many horror movies to mean.

"I told you – there are some variances between the sample I took from the boy here and the one you gave me years ago from the Torchwood incident. It is entirely possible that some other specimen found its way to earth, possibly even longer ago than that – if that's the case, there is absolutely no telling how it has mutated over generations. The U.K. isn't the only place in the world with werewolf stories, after all."

"You're _not _making me feel better here, Liz."

"That, my dear Captain, isn't my job."

Jack flashed her half a very tired smile (although he tried to make it a good one) – and his com link clicked. "Yeah – ?"

"It's me," Gwen said needlessly; he'd sent her to track down Edwin Burgess and see if she could verify his 'hobbies.' "I'm at the Burgess place – and this guy was definitely into some weird shit. His library is nothing but books on lycanthropy – not just werewolves, either – some of these books look a hundred years old – maybe more. He's also got a stock of some very strange weapons and an cabinet full of silver bullets."

"Box it all up and bring it back with you."

"All right – how's it coming there?"

"As usual – we have more questions than answers."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Jack nodded and told her good-bye; he was painfully aware of how thinly they were spread…_and Liz is only here as a favour, what's it going to be like when there's just the three of us…? _

………………………………………..

Ianto didn't look up when the door at the end of the hallway opened up – he didn't have to look, Jack might not realize it but him and those fifty-first century pheromones of his were impossible to miss… _besides, who else would it be…? _

"I need to ask her some questions," Jack said in a brisk tone. "And it's important that I get the answers."

Ianto glanced at Wendy – he saw it in her eyes _see, I was right…_but she wasn't, she didn't know Jack and he had no way to convince her. "We're not who you think we are, Wen – " he felt Jack's hand on his shoulder – reached up – held it just a second. "I ah – I think I should probably leave you two to it – I'll go and see if Liz needs a hand."

"You can stay – " Jack offered, wondering if maybe it would make her trust him any –

Ianto shook his head.

_Maybe he's reached his limit…_

"I'll have my com on, if you need me, Jack."

Jack nodded – watched him go. He turned to the girl in the cell, "He's right you know – whatever it is you think you know about me – you're wrong. I do want to help – but I need some answers first."

"You reek of death."

"Funny – because what I've really got going on is an overabundance of life."

She frowned; "What are you?"

"I wish I knew."

"Does he know – really – ?"

"Yes." _He's seen me die_… die and come back…_and she really must care because why else would she be bothering to ask about Ianto, given her current situation…_and that had to count for something, didn't it? She could have killed him but she didn't…_and that counts for a lot... _"How far back does it go – this – this being born with two skins or whatever you called it?" he asked, going back to that same brisk tone he'd started out with.

"How far back does being whatever you are go?"

"Not the same. There is an exact moment when I went from being one of them to – me."

She stared at him long and hard – then relented: "It goes back as far as it goes – as far as we've been here – "

"And how far is that? How long have you been here?"

"As long as anyone else!"

"What are you?" he asked her.

"You have all the answers – "

"No. I don't. Tell me – what are you!" he demanded.

"Werewolf – lycanthrope – shape shifter – take your pick!" she screamed right back –

And Jack understood why Ianto had left – he'd known how it was going to go and he never would have been able to sit through this…_but he knows I need these questions answered..._ "But see – _that's_ where there's a difference. In every other shape shifter we've come across there's been an organ – a gland – something internal whose sole function is to regulate the whole shape shifting process – you don't seem to have one – "

"How would you – " she suddenly looked stricken –

"I ah – sorry," for his part, Jack honestly did regret his tone, if not his words themselves. "But your friend – Mr. Collin Parker – on the inside he's as human as any human I've ever known – only we both know he wasn't any more human than you are and the only difference between you and the rest of them is a few odd strands of DNA."

"Who are you people?"

"Torchwood," he gave her the same answer he'd given last time. "How many of you there are – where are you all hiding out – " _is this really an epidemic or is Liz right – they're just a handful of scared creatures trying to survive…_ "I want to believe you're not a threat, but you've got to understand, dealing with threats is what Torchwood does and from where I'm standing – " he finished with a shrug. From where he was standing she might not look like a threat now, but last night… that was a threat. "So if there's something you can tell me – something you can give me to change my mind – it would go a long way towards getting me to open that door."

"What do you want?" She asked, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

"How far back does it go?"

"I told you – as far back as we can remember – more generations than we can count – I can't give you a better answer than that because I don't have one!"

"How many of you are there?" Jack asked in a quieter tone.

"I don't know – even if I did, I wouldn't tell you but I really _don't _know."

"A lot – a few – ? Come on – work with me here."

"You – humans – they hunted us down nearly to the point of extinction during the Dark Ages – the Witch Hunts – and each generation sees fewer and fewer born. One in a hundred – one in a thousand – "

"But not to every family – "

"No. Not to every family in the world – if there were, maybe you wouldn't be so afraid of us."

"How many families – how many bloodlines – ?"

"I _don't _know."

He gave her a long hard look –

"I told you – we were wiped nearly to the point of extinction –! A dozen – two dozen – there aren't enough of us to be a threat – why can't you believe me?"

"I know about Burgess," Jack said then. "There are still people who hunt you down like that?"

"If you know about him, you know the answer to that."

"Why?"

"The thrill of the hunt. What else is there?"

He sighed. It wasn't like he'd never seen anything like it before… "Will you let us run some tests on you?"

"What kinds of tests?"

"Nothing invasive – blood work – MRI – " _whatever else Liz can dream up that won't hurt you… _

"Why?"

"The Torchwood Institute was founded in 1879 after something that looked an awful lot like you attacked Queen Victoria with the intent of overtaking the Crown. Now – I'll be the first person around here to admit that some of those older reports are more than a little biased where non-humans are concerned – but you have to understand how I might be just a little bit cautious when another one of you pops up out of nowhere – especially if it happens to be in the life of somebody I care an awful lot about."

"You're never going to let me out of here, are you?"

"I didn't say that. I just said I needed to be sure you weren't a threat."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I may even try to answer it," he quipped back with a smile that didn't seem to be appreciated.

"You said non-humans – and those things down there – they're not like anything I've ever come in contact with before – what are they?"

"Aliens."

"There's no such thing – "

Jack gave her a look, "No offence, but for a pretty girl who turns into a werewolf by the light of the moon, you don't have much room to talk about what's real and what isn't. You might even be surprised to know that what makes you you – what makes you different – it originated on another planet."

"No – "

"For all intents and purposes, _you_ are an alien."

"That's impossible – "

"Trust me when I say that I see impossible things every day – I might even be impossible myself – but here I am. And here you are. Two impossible things having a conversation."

"You have a funny idea of what constitutes a conversation."

He gave her a wry smile, "You should see me in bed."

She was quiet a moment befor asking if she could ask him something else.

"Sure."

"Ianto – do you really care about him?"

"_**Yes**__."_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven:**

**Enough Death  
**

* * *

Jack found Ianto sitting at his station monitoring rift activity. _Probably anything to keep from watching the security feeds…_ Jack laid a hand on the younger man's back, "How's it look out there?"

"Quite. Liz had pretty well wrapped up and wasn't doing anything she needed help with," Ianto almost seemed to be apologizing for not being where he'd said he'd be.

Jack just nodded; he slid both arms around Ianto's waist and drew the younger man against him – Ianto didn't protest but he seemed momentarily startled by the intimacy of the gesture. They both knew this was something Jack never would have done before…but two thousand years (and the last few days) had given him a lot of time to think about a lot of things and _this_ was one of those things...all those years it had been about surviving, getting through, getting back…making it right… _forgiving…_ _**being forgiven**__…_ he was only half conscious of the way he pulled Ianto closer just then… he pressed his cheek against the younger man's back, fighting off the wave of sorrow that threatened to crash in on him in this brief moment of quiet… he couldn't shake the wave of guilt over sparing himself a moment to hurt when Ianto must be worried sick… "It's going to be all right," he said quietly. Ianto seemed to have relaxed into him even before he spoke, though; he put his arms over Jack's, holding onto him like he had when they'd lain down together earlier.… _he puts so much faith in me… _Jack wondered if he really deserved it… he shifted and propped his up on Ianto's shoulder, "She's going to let us run a few tests – blood work – whatever Liz comes up with," he added quickly but it didn't look like Ianto had assumed anything else… anything worse.

"Then what?"

Jack didn't answer the question, instead: "I told her about the Torchwood incident – the alien DNA."

"How did that go?"

"I think it's sinking in."

"I don't imagine it's the easiest thing to hear."

"She has the right to know the truth."

Ianto swiveled around in his chair so he was facing Jack, but he managed to do it without letting go, "So – what happens after Liz runs her tests?" he asked again.

"I suppose if she really were a threat we could freeze her – but – she's right. She could have killed you. Twice. She didn't. That counts for something in my book." _And we've all lost so much all ready… _

"Thank you, Jack," Ianto leaned up, his intentions clear.

Jack met the kiss half way, cupping Ianto's face and bringing him further in, giving him everything he could and desperately wishing for just a little less craziness in their lives… _but when this is over, I'll find some way to prove to you how much you mean to me Ianto Jones… _"I ah – I don't think Wendy exactly trusts me right now, not after everything I threw at her – " he began, just a little uncertainly – but Ianto had to understand –

"That and apparently you smell bad," Ianto flashed one of those sly little smiles of his.

"Yeah, what is up with that?" Jack grinned back, happy to have the old Ianto back with him again.

"Well whatever it is, apparently you can cross werewolves off your dance card," Ianto continued.

Jack considered for a moment – he wasn't entirely certain that was a bad thing… or… hmmm….

"You're not_ seriously_ going there, are you?"

"Just thinking about the proportions – you know what they say about the size of a man's feet – or is that his hands – ?" Jack grinned. "I mean – if she's an example of the average female of the species, just think about the males – "

"You are a truly sick man, Jack Harkness – _truly­ _sick."

"Yeah but you love it – "

Ianto flushed a gentle shade of pink – he opened mouth and then shut it again.

Jack cleared his throat, feeling a rush of warmth overtake his own cheeks for just a moment, "Anyway – I don't think she trusts me right now, so why don't you take Wendy some clothes because as much as_ I_ don't mind the idea of an extremely attractive lycanthrope running around the hub naked, Liz might object – "

"I can imagine."

Jack grinned… Ianto it seemed wouldn't object… he filed that thought away for future reference… "And why don't you see what you can scrounge something out of the fridge for her – it's been a long night for all of us – I'll see if Liz can be ready for her in half an hour or so. The sooner we get this done – the sooner we can – move onto the next crisis, I suppose," he finished with half a smile and was rewarded by a soft chuckle out of Ianto… _and it is so good to hear you laugh, right now…_ before letting Ianto go, Jack leaned in and kissed him again. He knew they'd have to get back to business as usual soon enough, but for the moment it felt good to just – _be_, just enjoy the moment without worrying about what the staff would think… but even that thought brought a stab of pain to his insides… _Owen…Toshiko… _as if Ianto felt it too, he tightened his grip around Jack's neck and kissed him just a little harder…

………………………**..….**

"Wendy – ?" Ianto announced himself quietly at the cell door. "I've brought you something to eat – and some clothes – they ah – Gwen brought your stuff in from my flat."

"Ah. So what's the drill – on my knees – hands behind my head – or is it up against the wall – ?" her tone was cool, making him wonder just how badly Jack had lain into her. He'd seen Jack in an interrogation before – there was a reason he'd done anything he could think of to take his mind off what was happening down here, anything to keep himself from watching. He knew it was necessary – knew that Jack wasn't really a cruel person – but he also knew that Jack would say and do whatever he had to, to get the answers he felt he needed. "Well?" She asked when Ianto failed to answer right away.

"No – nothing like that. Just stand back a little is all," Ianto tried to force his tone to neutrality. He balanced the tray with one hand and tripped the lock with the other – "You holding up ok?" He asked as he stepped in – she seemed not to have moved from the corner she'd been huddled in when he left her.

"Weren't you watching the show?"

"No."

"So what – only the boss gets video privileges – he is the boss, right?"

"Yes. And no, I could have watched. I didn't want to."

"Guess you knew what it would look like."

"He does what he has to do – but he doesn't lie, not about anything."

She regarded him coolly.

"We can talk about that later – are you hungry? It's not much – but it was either this or left over curry – " he said of the sandwich he'd made for her. She hated curry. "It's sad really – all this and the best we can whip up on short notice is sandwiches, TV dinners or left take-away," he added.

"You always were rubbish in the kitchen, anyway," she gave him a sad sort of smile –

"It's going to be all right, Wendy, I _promise_," Ianto told her; he looked around for a place to set down the tray – _maybe I should spend some more time down here…_ it wasn't dirty so much as dusty… _maybe a dehumidifier to improve air qualit… with all the alien technology, nobody ever thinks about the little things… _but maybe humidity was good for the weevils – they lived in the sewers after all –

Wendy stood up slowly – "I'm sorry, Ianto."

"Don't be."

"No – I mean I am truly, deeply sorry and I hope – I hope that some day you'll be able to forgive me – "

"For what?" he noticed the tears then – but before he could react, she'd knocked the tray out of his arms and grabbed hold of him; her grip was iron – "Wendy – please – " _don't do anything stupid – _he tried to push back and realized that she'd started to change – which should have been impossible it was supposed to be triggered by moonlight, not some sort of voluntary thing and he couldn't help the moment of panic when her whole face contorted and he realized that impossible or not, it was a conscious effort on her part…

She spun him around and hooked one arm around his throat in a classic choke hold and shoved him out the cell door –

"Don't do this – _please – __**don't**__ do this_ – " Ianto begged her. "Wen – they'll kill you!"

"I know," her voice was barely human in his ear.

"It's not too late – you can stop this right? If you can start it you can stop it – _**please don't do this – " **_fear of her was replaced by fear for her. "Please – "

But it _was_ too late – above the alarm sounded, telling him that Jack had triggered full lock-down – _not taking any chances… _

Around his neck her muscles contorted and expanded – the hand on his arm grew huge – he found himself watching in macabre fascination even as the claws dug through his suit and into his skin – he choked – and she eased up on his neck just enough so he could breathe. "Please – it you _**don't **_have to this – you'll die for nothing – is that what you really want?"

But she could no longer answer, at least not with anything he could understand – just the same he knew the answer – she would rather die than live like this – that's what she'd said and Jack must have really in into her – really scared her.

"It's not too late to work this out – I know you don't want to hurt me, I know you – you brought me in out of the rain – you fed me sandwiches and tea – you're my _**best **_friend – " he couldn't control the tears – didn't try. _Not today – not again – not another one – _he didn't want to lose somebody else –

Her answer, however, was an ear-piercing howl that sent the weevils into the shadows of their cells, snarling in fear –

_So forlorn… _

"Wendy – please – "

But by then, Jack was down the stairs carrying a very big riffle and looking like he wasn't in the mood to ask questions first or even at. Liz was right behind him, but Ianto doubted she'd be able to talk him down, not with that look in his eye – cold – hard. Focused.

"Jack – **don't!"** Ianto screamed over the snarling of frightened weevils – "Please – _**please**_ don't – !"

Jack either didn't hear or wasn't listening (or at any rate, he wasn't looking at anything but Wendy), "Let him go," his tone was as cold as the look on his face. "Let him go and there's still a way for you to walk out of here alive." He cocked the riffle, "If not – I'm a very good shot and you're a_** really**_ big target." He leveled the muzzle of the gun at her skull.

"**JACK – **_**NO!"**_

"You have _**one**_ chance to walk out of here," Jack's voice remained steady, as unwavering as his gaze, "But it's only good for about ten more seconds – then I _**will **_shoot."

"Please – Jack – listen to me – it's what she wants – !"

"Nine – eight – "

"Jack – _**please –**_ !" he could hardly see any more for the tears – "I was wrong – it's _not_ like Lisa all over again – not unless you shoot – please I'm begging you to listen to me – she's just scared – she's not like Lisa – she knows what she's doing – !" but he couldn't speak for the sobs – Lisa – he'd pushed her so far out of his memory for so long – buried her twice – "I can't lose someone else, not today – " his voice was barely audible – "Please, not today – " Wendy let him go – he fell, unable to move – unable to hold himself up – "Please Jack – not today – Tosh – Owen – no more – I can't take any more – Lisa – " he had to fight the urge to curl in on himself, on the pain – he hadn't hurt this bad in so long – but when he wiped the moisture form his cheeks and found Jack's face in the darkness Jack was looking at him – listening – for just a split second he had a chance – "She's not a monster, Jack – you talked to her – you know that. Please – both of you – " he shifted his gaze up to her – she'd taken half a step back – she was watching him – watching Jack – frozen almost – "Please don't do this, Wen. You could have killed me – you didn't – and he's right – he's got perfect aim – but he_ didn't_ shoot – he gave you a chance. You don't know who we are or what we do – please – give us a chance – give _me _a chance – " _please don't let this be Lisa all over again… _

Jack swallowed back cold hard lump in his throat and silently willed the ice in his veins to go back to being blood – when he'd seen her go for Ianto on the CCTV feed _**everything**_ had gone black – cold – _numb… _the only part of him that wasn't shaking were the arms holding the riffle level at her head. But she wasn't moving. She was just standing there like – like maybe she was considering her next move, too –

"Jack – " Liz laid a hand on his shoulder. "There's been enough slaughter for one week – for one lifetime – even yours – "

"Jack _please,"_ Ianto repeated his plea, "It doesn't have to end like this. She's not some hostile alien – remember what you said before – how we see enough death – ? I know how long ago that was for you – but – but _we see enough death_. Remember?"

"You're right." He eased the hammer slowly back on the riffle. "We see enough death. We've_ all_ seen enough death," he added in Wendy's direction, willing himself to see her as the scared woman she'd been twenty minutes ago. "I know you can understand me – I know that you are an intelligent sentient being and – and the first move's on me," he raised the muzzle towards the ceiling and let the silver shells fall to the floor. "What d'you say – nobody gets shot – nobody gets mauled – let's just – just talk this through," he handed the riffle over to Liz – took his side arm slowly out of the holster and handed that over too. "I'm unarmed – " he raised his hands slightly in what he hoped was really the universal sign for peace and took a few slow, careful steps towards the werewolf – Wendy – towards Ianto – the former eyed him wearily but wasn't making a move to attack – and the latter looked so scared – Jack knelt down and gathered him into his arms, cradling the younger man protectively even though he knew there was nothing he could do if Ianto was wrong about her – _but right now, you're safe…_ he pulled Ianto closer, held him as tight as he could – felt Ianto's arms on his, hanging on just as tight. He felt each sob coming from the younger man. He pressed his lips to Ianto's forehead without taking his eyes off the seven foot tower of muscles, claws and fangs in front of them. For her part, she seemed just as leery of him as he was of her. She took another step back – glanced up at Liz – then back down again –

"She's not a monster, Jack."

"I can see that. Truth is she's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," he pulled both them both up off the floor, gently pushing Ianto behind him – in his current state, Ianto didn't argue (and Jack was vaguely aware of Ianto's hands on one his shoulder, on his waist – not letting go – not running away.) "Wendy – we can talk this through. I promised Ianto we'd find a way out of this and I want to keep that promise more than anything else in the world right now – but you've gotta to work with me here – meet me half way. I don't know what more I can do to prove to you that we're _not_ the bad guys."

"Wendy – listen to him – I know you don't trust him, but you're wrong – whatever it is you think it is – "

"You know what it is," Jack cut him off. "I'm – wrong. You're not the first person to ever say that to me – something happened – and I can't die and I guess something about that sets your senses reeling – and you're right – there is death here – or there was." _Owen… _Owen and everything else that'd ever happened here, "But look – next to you – those are weevils – they're not part of some sport and the only time we take them up to the lab is to try and understand them because if we could understand them maybe – maybe we could figure out what happens to make them start attacking people. Maybe we could find a way to communicate – maybe even find a way to get them back to where they belong. But for now they're stuck – and we're stuck keeping them locked up because we can't have them running around hurting people but killing isn't what we do here – not unless there isn't _any_ other choice. And I know that is a lot to take in even for something – some_**one**_ – as remarkable as you – but there's more out there than you know." He held out his hand, "If you'll trust me – I'll tell you all about it."

"Please, Wen – he's the most decent – honest – wonderful man I know."

"We want to understand you," Jack said, "But you have to help us do that."

He watched as she shifted back down – and forced himself not to hang onto Ianto when he rushed to her – held her – _one bite…_ but if she could change shape consciously than maybe there really were things about them they didn't know… Jack took a careful step forward, aware of the way she was still watching him, even as she held Ianto tightly, apologizing to him – Jack rested a hand on the younger man's back. Ianto turned to him – slid into his arms – let Jack hold him.

"This is Liz," Ianto was saying, as Liz came closer, the weapons left behind on the stairs.

"I remember you from last nigh," Wendy's voice was strained.

"Let's get you some clothes – something to eat – try this over again," Liz said calmly. "All right?"

"All right," Wendy agreed, still eyeing Jack wearily – distrustful.

Just then Jack's com clicked – Gwen –

"What the Hell is going on – you're in lockdown – "

"We're ok now – give me a second – " he found the right switch on the controller around his wrist (without letting go of the younger man who was still hanging onto him as well.) "There – we ah – we've had a little excitement – but it's over now."

"Thank you, Jack," Ianto whispered as soon as he cut the com.

"I made you a promise. And you're right – we've seen enough death." He guided Ianto up the stairs just behind Liz and Wendy, trying very hard to convince himself that he'd done the right thing… _but she could have killed him. She didn't._ That had to mean something.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Answers**

* * *

Ianto leaned into Jack, shamelessly letting his Captain take the bulk of his weight. The effort of keeping his head upright was too much. Every inch of him hurt in ways it hadn't hurt in a long time – Tosh – Owen. Lisa. _Almost losing you…_ he thought at Jack… almost losing Wendy – she glanced back over her shoulder but he couldn't tell if he was looking at him or at Jack – she still didn't trust Jack (and Ianto was sure that Jack didn't trust her either.) But he'd given her a chance. She'd taken it… Ianto smiled a tight little smile up at her and she returned it before turning around again. Liz slipped one hand around Wendy's shoulders in an almost motherly sort of way and told her softly that she had nothing to worry about, nobody was going to hurt her here – _what adventures did you have with this Doctor of yours…of his… _Ianto thought… _to so easily accept everything that's happening with such grace._ He marveled at Liz a moment. _True grace under fire… we should all carry on so well._

Ianto let eyes droop shut – he knew every inch of the hub anyway – every step – every bit of cold hard floor, every inch of wall, every corner, crack and crevice and even if he didn't he had Jack to lean on …_I promised Ianto we'd find a way out of this and I want to keep that promise more than anything else in the world…_ Jack's voice in his memory…

_Do I really mean that much to him…? _Ianto wondered…_my Captain…_ Jack pulled him closer, held him tighter, told him again that it would be all right. _Thank you for giving me someone to lean on… _between lack of sleep and – and **everything**, Ianto wasn't sure he would have made it up the stairs without the help... _with all the technology we have in this place, why the hell is it that the only lift we have is that bloody cement block that goes up to the sidewalk? _Ianto wondered as his calves protested the last flight of steps up to the main hub.

They reached top of the stairs at same time as Gwen was getting through the door –

"Oh my God – Liz – Jack – what happened –? _Ianto – ?" _she gave questioning look at Jack (continuing to eye and assess the scene carefully, it seemed) as cupped Ianto's face in her hands. "Ianto – ?"

"I'm all right, really –" he assured her, reluctantly he pulled away from Jack (was it his imagination, or was Jack really seeming not to quite want to let go…?)

"What happened?" Gwen asked again.

"We ah – we had a little misunderstanding, is all," Jack told her in that rock-steady tone of his. "It's been straightened out." He cast a glance over at Wendy - she returned it. It was an uneasy truce, but for the time being, it was a truce...

Gwen looked over at Wendy and then at Jack again – and Ianto noted the look Jack shot back – they'd discuss it** later**.

"Gwen – where did you put Wendy's things?" Liz inquired – Ianto wasn't sure if she really needed to ask or if she was trying to bring some sort of ease to the situation. If the latter was the case, it worked:

"Oh – right – oiy," it seemed to suddenly dawn on Gwen that Wendy wasn't wearing anything, "Right – conference room – sorry – " she seemed suddenly embarrassed. "I'm Gwen by the way – we ah – we – well – I suppose – "

Wendy just nodded, "I remember you." Her tone was cold.

"Right. I suppose you would. Well – come on then – this way – "

Ianto lost whatever else either Gwen or Wendy said to each other as Jack steered him towards the medical bay (his calves continuing to protest, although going down stair was easier than going up.) Jack sat him on the metal table and peeled his coat off before Ianto quite realized what he was doing –

"I'm fine, Jack." _A hot shower and a long nap and I'll be right as rain... _

Jack didn't say anything, he just looked down at the small holes in Ianto's shirt – his jacket sleeve. Holes caused by werewolf claws… Jack's brows were scrunched up tight.

"It's just a scratch – honest – she _didn't_ hurt me."

"A scratch is all it might take, remember?"

"She said it doesn't work that way."

"What if she just doesn't_ know_ it works that way?"

Ianto had to admit, he hadn't considered that possibility (and he wasn't sure he was happy to be considering it now.) However: "Well you did seem awfully fascinated by the prospect of proportions for the male of the species – " Ianto offered up a half-hearted smile. Jack didn't laugh. He didn't even crack a smile. That worried Ianto even more than the possibility that Jack was right and Wendy just didn't know. "I'm not even sure she broke the skin," Ianto told him; he undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt anyway. Jack didn't make a single lewd comment. Ianto looked down at his arm, "There, see," his arm was bruising – by morning he expected it to be black and blue and maybe instead of a hot shower, he should be contemplating an ice pack, but his skin didn't seem to be broken. There were a few red spots where her claws had dug in during her transformation, but Ianto didn't see any blood. "I'm fine," _but if they don't regularly go around mauling people, how would they know if all it takes is a bite or a scratch to transmit a bit of their DNA to another person…?_ "I'm sure it's nothing," he said again, trying to sound confident enough to convince them both.

"I'll feel better after Liz runs some tests – " Jack already had a syringe in hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Drawing blood – I've done my fair share of battlefield first aid, remember?"

"That's what scares me," he managed a more real grin. "I _**do**_ remember the last time we went weevil hunting – " his voice caught. Owen had insisted that Jack had done more harm than good with his battlefield first aid.

Jack's tight lipped expression told Ianto that Jack had had the same thought… he laid a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "We'll get through this," his tone was so soft that Ianto wondered what he meant, which crisis it was they'd get through… _Ianto Jones, werewolf of Torchwood…_ Ianto wasn't at all sure he liked the sound of that, no matter how fascinated Jack might be about 'proportions.'

Jack drew a vile of blood and labeled it; Ianto had his shirt and tie back on before Liz, Gwen and Wendy arrived. Gwen brought up the rear, still looking pensive, like she wanted that conversation with Jack _**right now**_ – Liz shot a questioning look towards Ianto and Jack, but neither said anything – Ianto could tell Jack wanted to keep his concerns to himself for the time being. He hopped down from the table and retrieved his jacket. Wendy still looked scared (which when Ianto thought about it was almost a little strange; she could, really if she wanted to, rip them to all shreds pretty easily…_but that's not who she is… _) He gave her another thin smile; she returned it, but continued to hang back, her arms crossed over her body, eyeing Jack wearily. For his part, Jack was doing much the same... _like they're sizing each other up... _

Liz finally broke the stony silence, "There's nothing to be afraid of – " she said to Wendy; then she glanced around the room, her eyes settling on Jack in particular, "I think I can handle this on my own. Captain – "

Jack didn't look like he was going to be dismissed that easily - Ianto resisted the urge to lay a hand on his Captain's arm – to touch him – even though he wanted to. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets, which was what he usually did to keep them to himself… _professional demeanor…_ Ianto cleared his throat a little, "I ah – I'd like to stay – if that's all right – Liz – Jack – ?"

Jack wasn't happy – but he gave a small nod of his head indicating his acceptance of it. "I'll be in my office if anybody needs me," he looked at Ianto – but didn't reach out, didn't touch him…

_Back to business as usual…_Ianto thought, just a little bit glumly…_but it's not like I didn't know it was coming... _He'd promised once that nothing they did 'after hours' would change his and Jack's working relationship.

Gwen followed Jack up the stairs, so close behind she was practically tripping on his heels – she wasn't quite out of earshot when she demanded to know what was going on…

"All right – Wendy," Liz guided her towards the table, "If you'd like to have a seat – sorry, the decorating scheme _wasn't_ my idea," she added with a small smile of the antiseptic white walls and stainless steel.

Wendy just nodded and did as she was told, seemingly barely aware of Ianto's presence as he stood right next to her while Liz (very gently) drew several small viles of blood (Ianto was glad it wasn't Jack jabbing at Wendy the way he'd jabbed at him a few minutes ago; his battlefield first aid left a lot to be desired.) Liz listened to Wendy's heartbeat – her lungs – examined her ears – throat – tested reflexes – she also took a DNA swab from the inside of her cheek – hair sample, small skin scraping, apologizing for the discomfort.

"Why don't we take a break for a bit?" Liz suggested as she was labeling the last sample.

Wendy nodded again; through the entire proceedure, she hadn't said a word, hadn't looked either Liz or Ianto in the eye, had cooperated fully…

_Enduring…_ Ianto thought. He reached over and offered her his hand – he was surprised by the look of gratitude on Wendy's face as she curled her fingers into his.

"I know you have absolutely no reason to trust us," said Liz, "But we're _not _here to hurt you – we only want to understand you – your species. Only by understanding each other can we ever hope to have any kind of – peace – between us."

"There will always be men like Edwin Burgess in the world," Wendy replied.

"Yes. There will. There will always be all sorts of horrible things in this world, the vast majority of which are human. But that still doesn't make Burgess a good example of what most of us are like – and I know you know that."

Ianto gave her hand a squeeze – she looked over at him, offering up a small, hopeful seeming smile. "Is it true – what – he said – the American Captain – ? About us – being – being alien – ?"

"I told you," said Ianto. "He never lies." _He doesn't always tell the whole story, _but Jack had never out right lied to anyone that Ianto knew of.

"Something fell to earth in Scotland, in 1540," said Liz, "That object, whatever it was, had one last cell of alien DNA. Somehow that that DNA got introduced into a human host and caused that person to change – mutate – and over generations the result was something very much like what you are. Come over here," she motioned towards her computer; Liz brought up the DNA comparisons from the boy and the sample from the Torchwood incident. "I don't know how much science you've had – "

"Just what I got in Secondary – "

"Well – simple DNA strands – I think everybody knows what they look like. This is the boy's – Parker you said his name was – ?"

"Yes."

Liz just nodded – typed the name into the screen so the sample was labeled. She brought up another screen, "This is a sample of normal human DNA – and this is from the Torchwood incident. See here – and here – and here – this is what makes you different from us – "

"But it's the same as the other," Wendy said of the DNA from the Torchwood incident.

"Not quite – but _very _similar – certainly the same species."

"But – your Captain said this – lycanthrope," she seemed to not want to acknowledge any relationship between her and the Torchwood werewolf, "It – he – was trying to overthrow the monarchy? Beyond the fact that that's impossible - it would take more than one man to over throw an empire - but even if we could, we would _never_ expose ourselves like that, especially not in the nineteenth century – that's when people were finally starting to _not_ believe in 'monsters' any more. It was we could finally start coming together again – start living in communities again. For centuries we'd scattered to the winds – safety not in numbers but in separation," she explained.

"So that if humans found one, they only killed one, not an entire family – a whole village?" asked Liz

"Yes. We're – my kind _need_ each other as much as we need air – food. Kith – kin – we're _all _we've got. But from the Persecutions up until just about the middle of the nineteenth century, we were forced to live apart by fear. Those who survived the Persecution lived as humans - took human mates – raise human children – or better yet raise no children at all. There are stories of those who would cull their own children, if they were born with two skins, hoping that some bit of what made us special would pass on through the blood of the one-skinned children who would some day be free. And yet some of them wonder why we're dying out the way we are," her tone was bitter as she looked away from the screen. "But even if one of us would be willing to risk our entire existence on something as unthinkably stupid as attacking England's Queen – there just would be nothing to be gained. It _doesn't_ make any sense."

"People don't often make sense," Liz told her gently. "And he wasn't acting alone - there was some radical sect of religious fanatics behind the whole scheme."

"We don't have very good details," Ianto added. "All we really know is that someone was using one of your kind to infect the Queen – "

"But it _doesn't_ work that way – either you're born as one of us or you aren't – "

"How do you know for sure?" he asked her, thinking again about Jack's statement.

"What do you mean?"

"Wendy – you don't go around mauling people – so how do you know?"

She blinked and seemed at once angry and – relieved – ?

_Probably glad I don't think she goes around mauling people… _

"It doesn't work that way," she insisted firmly. "We'd know if it did."

"It is possible," Liz stepped in, "That the DNA that got introduced into your family line is so – intertwined – so much a part of who and what you are, that it can no longer be passed on any other way but genetically."

"You mean it isn't strong enough to get passed down any other way," Wendy seemed to understand what Liz wasn't saying.

"Yes."

"Then – it's not just that we lived as humans for so long that we weakened our own bloodline by murdering our children – we were doomed from the start, weren't we? Just some – hybrid that can't survive evolution – "

"I don't honestly know – if there was more data – more information, I might be able to make some conjectures – but without it – I wouldn't be doing more than making blind guesses."

"All we have is folklore – stories passed from one generation to the next. But whole bloodlines were wiped out during the Persecutions – the Inquisition – their stories died with them. There's a lot about our own history that we don't know – and even if we did, it's a far cry from scientific evidence," she gave over half a smile.

"The world is more than just equations and mathematics – a very wise man taught me that," she cast a smile of her own at Ianto…

_The Doctor…_ he thought… without even having met him, Ianto was getting a sense of what Jack saw in him...

"Would it be all right if I – would you let me see Collin's body?" Wendy asked then.

"Of course," Liz told her. "I sent him down to the vaults – I can show you – "

"No – I'll do it," Ianto offered up. "It's my responsibility, Liz." _I killed him… _

"Are you sure -?"

Ianto nodded.

"All right," she gave him the number of the drawer she'd put the boy's body in; he guided Wendy up the stairs –

"Thank you," she said quietly when they'd reached the top.

"It's all right – "

"No – Yan – I mean it – _thank you_ – "

He looked at her and understood – no one actually wanted to die, but she'd been willing to because anything was better than living locked up in a cage – and he was sure, looking at her now, that she still wasn't convinced they'd really let her go, but she was trying to believe. Ianto slid one arm around her waist and drew her close, telling her that it would be all right. Wendy leaned into him much the same way he'd learned into Jack earlier.

"I never would have hurt you, Ianto," her tone was filled with hurt – guilt.

"I know that."

"I'm not sure your American Captain or the other woman – Gwen – believes it."

"It's been a worse week than usual around here – especially for Jack. Trust isn't something any of us are very good at right now."

"Even you?"

"Even me. But I know you, they don't."

"Will you ever forgive me?"

"I forgave you the moment you asked me to."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Truce**

* * *

"What is this place – really – ?" Wendy asked when they came into the main area of the hub – thankfully, neither Jack nor Gwen were around. As if on cue, Myfanwy came gliding in overhead answering Wendy's question by her very presence. Wendy just stared, seemingly unable to form words –

"Pterodactyl," Ianto confirmed; he'd become so accustomed to Myfanwy's presence that he hardly even noticed her except when it was time for her monthly meds (even though they had a pretty good idea where she went and what she ate, it was best, Ianto had always thought, to be safe rather than sorry, so just like any household pet, Myfanway got a monthly de-wormer and yearly vaccinations. And like most other unpleasant tasks around the hub, that too fell to him – but he still had his secret weapon and dark chocolate seemed to do a fair enough job of masking up the taste of the de-wormer that the monthly chore wasn't as bad as some of his other duties… frankly, he'd take pterodactyls over financial reports any day.)

"But – where – _how_ – they're extinct – " Wendy protested as the pterodactyl took another pass over head before settling into her alcove.

"All but that one. Erm – as far as we know."

"_As far as you know?"_

"We haven't heard of any others flying around over Wales, so we have to assume that so far, she's it."

"So far?"

"So far."

"And – you just let her fly around like that – ?"

"Jack thinks of her as something of a watchdog – besides, speaking as the person who ends up handling most of the 'care and feeding' around here, it's easier to just let her do most of her own hunting. Sheep," he added to her mortified expression. "Usually near Barry. She's pretty routine about it – we monitor her when she's out of the hub and apparently pterodactyls are nocturnal so, so far, it hasn't been an issue to let her come and go as she pleases. We've had her for almost two years now."

"And _**no one**_ in Cardiff has noticed a giant prehistoric animal flapping around at night – ?"

"Farmers tend to attribute her hunting to 'mysterious black cats' – you know – from the tabloids – ? But we investigated those a while back and there wasn't anything to it," _thankfully…_ Ianto had lost his taste for country life some time ago.

"So I renew the question: what is this place – ?"

Ianto guided her over to his work station and brought up the rift activity monitor program. "There's a rift – a rip through time and space and it runs right through the center of Cardiff," he also brought up a city map on another screen. "Once in a while something comes out of the rift – see here – these peaks indicate normal rift activity – stuff we're used to that doesn't usually mean much of anything. But here," he pressed a few more tabs on the keyboard and brought up past activity logs, "This is a rift spike – when that happens we know something big has come through, either from another time or another planet – or maybe another time on another planet. Those we investigate. Jack also likes us to keep tabs on anything that comes crashing down from space – or anything that gets dug up that might be alien in origin. If it's alien, we collect it, catalogue it – do our best to understand it without getting ourselves killed in the process – and then store it away for future use."

"Future use?"'

"Against other aliens. The hostile sort – "

"And this is – your _job_ – ? Digging up alien artifacts, taking care of dinosaurs and – and fighting off 'hostile aliens'?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds more glamorous than it really is," he flashed her half a smile.

"I don't know about glamour, but you have my life beat for complicated."

Ianto chuckled, "I wasn't aware it was a competition – but as long as I'm winning," he winked.

She smiled – then, "So – who is he – your Captain Jack?"

"When everything fell apart after Lisa – he helped me find myself again. Him – this place – it gave me a purpose. He told me that there was always something left to lose – always something left to live for. He was right."

"He said he couldn't die – "

"He can't."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't really understand it – I just know it's a part of who he is." _And I love him…._ Ianto slid his arm back around her waist and resumed their way back towards the vaults.

As they reached the steps down he realized this was the first time he'd been down here since they said their last good-byes to Tosh and Owen… Ianto took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions under control.

"You ok?"

"No. But ah – don't worry about it. Are you sure you want to do this?" he changed the subject a little... he didn't want to think about Owen and Tosh, not right now.

"I have to. I was supposed to bring Collin back with me so he could answer to the Elders for hunting Burgess – for attacking that couple in the park – other people – they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," she added to his questioning look. "We have our own laws – and we enforce them. And, yes, I'm breaking quite a few of them now," she added when Ianto gave her a questioning look.

"You couldn't ever have told me, could you?"

"Would you have wanted to know – before you got into this Torchwood, anyway?"

"No. Probably not." And he regretted that –

"It's ok – most people don't want to know that the monsters they think aren't real actually exist – "

"You're not a monster."

"Even you said it, Ianto."

"But I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"I just – I don't want you to look at me any differently now is all."

He looked over at her and smiled, "Nope. Still beautiful."

She chuckled and leaned in, pressing her lips to his cheek, seemed to pull into him just a little more when he accepted the kiss, returned it, when she realized that he really wasn't afraid of her.

"What are you going to tell these Elders of yours?" Ianto asked as they neared the bank of cold grey wooden doors.

"The truth. Maybe not about the aliens – or at least not the dinosaurs or this rift thing – but I'm going to tell them about the people who saw me for what I am and let me live. I don't know if I'm going to tell them about your theories about where we come from or not – I'm not sure they could handle it even if I think they should know – but – they need to know about the rest – that there are people out here who want to understand – "

"What about the rules?"

"Sometimes rules have to be broken."

"Wendy – ? Exactly how strict are these rules of yours?"

"I don't want you worrying about me, Sweetheart. I'll be_ fine_."

"Just – just humour me and tell me what's the worst that could happen?"

"Ianto – "

"I feel responsible for this. _Please_ – "

"The very worst that could happen is that I'd be an outcast from my kith and kin. Maybe for the rest of my life."

And she'd said that family was everything, that they were all she had – "So why tell them – why not make something up – ? It's not like this place is on the map. Tell them Burgess got him – you killed Burgess – tell them it was self defense – they already know he's killed at least one your people – "

"But I want to tell them the truth because despite everything that's happened – despite people like Edwin Burgess – I do believe in humanity. I've lived in your cities – I've known your people – people like _you._ Good people."

He glanced at the drawer he hadn't opened yet, not quite sure that the title 'good' really applied.

"He would have killed you, Ianto. He hated humans and he would have killed you the way he killed that couple in the park. The only thing they did was be there – see him – and he probably thought that killing them was the only answer because they couldn't tell anyone what they'd seen if they were dead. Just like Burgess isn't a good example of what humans are really like – Collin Parker isn't a good example of what we're like, either, because we are not like him. You really didn't have a choice – "

"Killing isn't something I feel good about – no matter what the circumstances are."

"Me either."

Ianto decided not to think about that too hard; he opened the door, pulled out the slab; she nodded, she was ready. He unzipped the white plastic bag and looked down at the pale skinned body inside… _barley as old as I was when she took me in… _"Did ah – did you know him well – ?"

"Not really. I knew who he was – what he believed in – how hurt he was, but I never really knew him."

"I'm still sorry for the loss of one of your kind."

"Thank you. Is – is it all right – ?" she asked before touching the body.

"Yeah – yes – of course – " Ianto stepped back to give her whatever privacy she needed as she laid her hands on the boy's chest – his head. She closed her eyes and spoke words he didn't know – it sounded like a chant or a prayer…_a lament…_

Ianto slid his hands into his pockets and stood quietly through what he could only surmise was some sort of requiem. The words, whatever language they were in (it was neither English nor Welsh, nor, as far as he could tell Scots or Irish Gaelic) were half spoken, half sung and just the sound of them left him hurting inside, like every pain was brought to the fore – and then – eased away again… like a tide rolling back out to the sea, back where it belonged, there but – but not there.

"That was – amazing," he told her quietly when she'd finished – when she dried the tears from her eyes (tears for someone she barely even knew…)

"It's meant to ease his soul's passage into the next life," Wendy explained, in just as quiet a tone his. "To bring him back to us as one of us – for him to be born with two skins. Which I suppose might be pointless if we're really some evolutionary joke from outer space," she gave a cold laugh and leaned back against the wall behind her, "But I couldn't go back to his parents and tell them that the rite hadn't been performed because – it would shatter them. No one was there to say the prayer over their other son's body and so he's lost to us, he'll never come back – he'll be born human. Without the requiem – our souls are lost – I know – esoteric stuff never was your thing," she added with a smile.

"But it's what you believe – I've always respected that," Ianto already knew Wendy believed in reincarnation and he saw no reason to contradict her now that he knew that there was no such thing… Owen had said there was nothing out there, just darkness. Suzie said the same thing – even Jack... but it occurred to him that if Wendy was banished from her people, there would be no one to perform her last rites and even if he didn't believe, she did. The severity of the punishment hit him like a back of rocks in the gut. It wasn't just separation from her own kind in this life, but in whatever else it was they believed came after.

"We're really not so different from one another – humans and lycanthropes," she stood back while Ianto zipped the bag back up, slid the drawer in – closed the outer door. "The Elders tell a very old story, about how we started out the same – you and us. We're of the same Mother – but She took some of Her children and She showed us how to walk with two skins. It's a trait that's passed down not just through the blood but from one lifetime to the next. Thank you for letting me do that for Collin – his parents – even if it's pointless in the end – "

"It's not pointless," Ianto forced a smile. It _was_ pointless but only because there was nothing out there – just darkness and – and Death… Wendy was speaking:

" – all this – they're all filled with – people?"

"Not all. Not yet." But Jack was right, some day they were going to run out of space…

"So what now?"

"Are you hungry? I could run and get something," then he lowered is voice, "I wouldn't want to subject you to Jack's chili any more than the left over curry."

She chuckled just a little, "I'm fine. Thank you."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Really, Ianto, I'm fine."

"You'll be perfectly safe while I'm out," he promised her –

"Am I that transparent?"

"Well, let's see, strange place, rift through time and space, dinosaurs, aliens – who wouldn't be scared?"

She smiled and slid her arm into his as they walked away from the vaults, "I really would prefer you not to leave me."

"All right – I suppose I could in for a pizza – I know Jack hasn't eaten since yesterday and I'll bet anything neither has Gwen or Liz."

"Is that part of your job, too – making sure they eat?"

"Actually – yes."

………………………….

Jack asked Ianto to go up and wait for the pizza; Gwen was back to cataloguing the books they'd gotten from the Burgess place – Liz was still in the lab.

Wendy sat in a chair in the conference room with one knee propping up her chin, staring out at nothing. Jack couldn't begin to imagine what must be going through her head – what she must have been thinking when she'd grabbed Ianto like that – _but we have a truce, nobody getting shot, nobody getting mauled… _and he'd intentionally left his side-arm on his desk.

"Mind some company?" Jack asked, stepping just inside the door.

"Your place. You get to go where ever you want."

Jack ignored the pointedness of her remark; "I'd like to ask you a few questions," he set the Torchwood Estate file on the table in front of her.

"What's this?"

"Go ahead," he took a seat across from her, aware of just how uncomfortable his presence made her feel.

Cautiously, Wendy opened the file – it was just a copy of the hand written report, complete with sketches, notes – "What is this?"

"Report from the original incident."

The more she read, the more she frowned, " 'The wolf is God' – ? Liz said they were fanatics – not lunatics."

Jack couldn't help but smile, "In my experience the two go hand in hand."

"I don't know what you expect me to tell you about this – "

"Fill in the blanks. Try to give me some idea of what happened here – from your prospective."

"I have no idea, but I'll tell you what I told Ianto and Liz – we would _never_ do something like this. Even if it were possible to 'infect' one of you with our DNA – _this _doesn't even make any sense."

"You scratched him, you know," Jack said then, intentionally changing the subject (he wanted to see her reaction.) "Ianto – when you changed – it's not much – " _but if all it takes is a scratch…_

"I _didn't _mean to hurt him – you have no idea how much control that takes – "

"I can imagine. It was a pretty big risk you took." _she really could have snapped him in half... _

"You took a big risk too – coming down guns blazing like that - you just assumed I could understand you."

"But I was right."

"And so am I. It's _**not**_ transmitted through bites and scratches – it isn't a disease. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"I had Liz check his blood anyway."

"And?"

"So far so good."

"See."

"She's going to check it again over the next few days."

"She won't find anything."

"I hope you're right." He nodded towards the file, changing the subject again, "Moonlight obviously doesn't have anything to do with it – how about the part about the mistletoe?"

"Sorry – I've caught a snog underneath it same as anyone else."

Jack flashed half a smile, "How do you make the shift from human – in appearance," he amended to her sharp look, "To the other form. You don't have a shape-shifting gland."

Wendy shrugged, "It's just – it's a part of us, I don't know how it works. Exactly how many alien shape-shifters have you autopsied?"

"We only kill when he have to," he answered the question she wasn't asking out loud. "There are about two dozen shape-shifting species catalogued in our database. I know of a few others that aren't catalogued because they haven't found their way to earth yet."

"Yet?"

"I'm not originally from around these parts."

"But you have an American accent."

"It was convenient."

"You said you were human – at least – "

"At one time. Yes. So this shape-shifting that you do – it's not like what we've seen before - most shape shifters are only limited by mass, other than that they can assume any shape they want to. You're limited - but the tracks in the park that first night were from a quadruped - and you seemed more quadrupedal that first night - "

"Yes, it can be fine tuned - with practice - but there are only two skins, not some limitless array of shapes and sizes."

_And mass doesn't seem to enter into it_ because what he'd seen earlier weighed a lot more than the thin woman sitting across from him now... "So it's more than just instince - you have to work at it - like - learning how to walk - ?"

"It's a little of both. And the part about the moon isn't entirely untrue. When the second skin first starts to manifest itself, it's always around the full of the moon and until we learn to control it, moonlight can trigger a spontaneous change."

"When does it start to manifest itself – ?"

"Puberty."

"Kinda puts zits into prospective."

She almost laughed.

"According to our records, you were raised in a home – " _how many teenaged girls had she mauled before getting this under control… ?_

"My parents died when I was small and I didn't have any other family that the government recognized. Even though neither of my parents had two skins, they knew I did – we always know when a child is born with two skins – "

"But it can skip a generation?"

"It can skip multiple generations. Like I said, fewer and fewer of us are born each year, Captain – "

"Jack," he told her. "We don't really stand on much formality around here."

Wendy nodded. "Jack, then. We're dying out."

"I'm sorry – I really am," he added to her skeptical look. "No one should ever have to be the last of their kind." _or to find out that the only other survivor is a homicidal - genocidal - mad man... _

"Or the only one," Wendy offered him a shy, real, smile.

"No – that's different. Being the only one you don't expect to have company at the end of the Universe. Being the last one means you used to not be all alone but then one day you wake up and realize they're all gone. Are you going to tell your Elders about the alien DNA?"

"They'd never believe it."

"I don't suppose having one of us show up with evidence would help?"

"In your case I can't call that suicidal – but I'm sure you get the idea."

"Not too friendly?"

"No. Not particularly."

"Humans haven't given you much to be friendly about, have they?"

"No."

"So how did you manage it – the whole shape-shifting process – if you didn't have any family around –?"

"As much as there were times when I wanted to, I _didn't _leave a string of dead girls in my wake. Just – one. The very first time – the very first time is supposed to be – like – "

"Losing your virginity?" Jack offered up with a wry grin - he was surprised by the wry grin he got in return:

"A lot like that, actually. It hurts, it's wonderful, it's powerful, it's frightening – and it's supposed to happen with the entire tribe gathered around to help you through it – to ease you through the pain and guide you through the transformation – but I was stuck in that wretched place and even though I knew I had to be careful – I knew I was different, my parents had died when I was six. I didn't remember everything they'd told me – I didn't understand half of what I remembered – I just remember – blazing light – pain – and then – blood. I didn't know what I was doing or what had happened until it was too late – it was all over. After that first time – look at my record – I spent a lot of time running away and a lot of time getting punished for it and I left as soon as I turned sixteen."

"So you wouldn't hurt anyone else."

"Yes."

The alarm sounded, signaling Ianto's return – Jack stood up to go meet him –

"Jack – "

"It's not my place to tell him your secrets – but we've all seen things – done things – especially around here – "

"It's one thing when a complete stranger looks at me like I'm some sort of monster – but to have a friend do it – "

"Ianto's not like that."

………………………………..


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for all the wonderful and kind reviews as well as for all those who have favourited and / or added this story to their alerts!! **

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Getting Back to "Normal"**

* * *

Jack watched the way Ianto slid in next to Wendy, even after Gwen and Liz joined them in the conference room for pizza.

"Please tell me it isn't 'meat feast' _again_," Gwen groaned when she saw the Jubilee's box – then she slid a sidelong glance at Wendy – she didn't quite trust the lycanthrope either, not after the 'stunt' (Gwen's word) with Ianto.

"Sorry," Ianto gave Gwen a truly apologetic look.

"Just once I'd like to get something else – "

"Thought you liked meat – " Jack began in a lascivious tone.

"You wish, Jack Harkness," she countered with a grin that made Jack smile – it felt like things might almost be settling back to normal (lycanthropic guests not withstanding.)

"There's coleslaw – " Ianto offered Gwen the tub.

Gwen made a face.

"Liz - ?" Ianto offered.

"I think I'll just pick something up on my way back to the hotel," Liz stood up.

"I'll walk you out," Jack offered.

"Sit and eat – I can let myself out – Wendy – would you mind continuing in the morning?"

Jack watched as the look of discomfort came back over Wendy's features – but she shook her head. _Compliant,_ he thought. Probably not a usual trait for her species either…

Liz gave Wendy's shoulder a gentle touch, "Try to get some rest – we should be able to wrap it up in the morning."

Again, Wendy just nodded, shooting a sidelong glance towards Jack, but otherwise she didn't respond.

"I erm – I should probably be getting home too," Gwen grabbed a slice of pizza as she stood. "Rhys'll be worried. See you in the morning – ?" she glanced at Jack and Ianto.

This time, Jack didn't offer, he just walked her out.

"Don't even say it, Wen," Ianto said before Wendy could speak.

"It's me," she said anyway.

"I told you – it's been a worse week than usual. Give them time."

"I hope you won't mind if I don't want to stick around as long as I think it might take your friends to warm up to me."

"You might be surprised what a good night's sleep will do." They were all ready to drop – Gwen – Jack – contrary to what the Captain liked people to believe, he did, indeed, sleep. It might not be as much as either Ianto or Gwen, but he still did it (and could be a bear if he didn't get enough of it.)

"So – what now?" Wendy asked.

"There's a sofa that's particularly comfortable behind – er – well – I'll show you."

"You sure he's not going to want me locked up or something – "

"Jack _isn't_ like that. It's going to be all right – "

Just then, Jack poked his head back into the conference room, "I think I'm going to turn in, too – Ianto – ?" (Ianto missed how plaintive the questioning look on Jack's face really was, didn't see the way Jack was wondering if Ianto was coming to bed with him at all…)

"I'm – I'll be up later. I just – we're going to eat and – I'll get Wendy settled on one of the couches. I shouldn't be long."

"Sorry we can't do better," Jack said a truly apologetic tone. "This place isn't exactly set up for company."

"I don't mind being couch girl," she grinned at Ianto who chuckled back.

Jack clearly didn't understand the joke but he didn't ask. "Should I wait up – or – ?" he inquired in Ianto's direction.

"You don't have to wait up."

"Ah. Well. All right. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he added with a forced smirk.

Ianto snickered, "Is there anything you wouldn't do?"

Jack feigned a moment of pseudo-serious thought. "No. Not really." He leaned forward just a little into the room – but Ianto didn't notice the look on his face – Jack grabbed a piece of pizza and stuffed itto in his mouth as he headed up to his office.

"See?" Ianto said after he'd gone.

"All right."

"All right?"

"All right, maybe he _is _really ok. Just – tell me he makes you happy."

"He makes me _very_ happy, Wen. You want a beer or something?" he offered, realizing that no one (that is, he) hadn't remembered to grab drinks.

"You have any wine?"

"I think I can scrounge up a bottle – come on," he picked up the pizza box and carried it out to the setae, "Might as well get comfortable, seeing as it's just the two of us – be right back," he added as he headed towards the kitchen.

A few moments later Ianto came out with a bottle of white wine and two glasses – before sitting down, he slid out of his jacket and un-did his tie – Wendy smiled and undid the top button of his shirt -- and then the next button as well. "There – that looks at least a little bit more like that Ianto Jones I know and love."

Ianto snickered and poured her a glass of wine, "I think you'll find some things have improved."

"Ohh – how posh," she teased.

Ianto laughed, "Not really – "

"Oooh, that is lovely – " she leaned into him then and Ianto put one arm around her shoulders, "Almost like old times."

"No. Nothing can ever bring back the past. I – learned that the hard way."

"Why do I get the feeling it's this job that's sucked the soul out of you, Yan?"

"Seeing the things we see everyday – the experiences I've had since I've been here – Torchwood London – "

"You mean there's more than one?"

"Torchwood London isn't there any more – there's just us and Glasgow – and Torchwood Four – but it's lost."

"Lost – no – never mind, I don't want to know, I've had enough weirdness for one day."

Ianto laughed – so did she – or maybe it was the wine – because it wasn't long before the bottle was drained and the pizza was gone and for the life of him, Ianto didn't ever remember the two of them eating a whole large pizza all by themselves before...

Ianto disposed of the box and stored the untouched coleslaw in the fridge – Wendy followed him into the kitchen and washed up the glasses. _About the only person around here who cleans up after herself…_ but even that brought a moment of sadness…

"Yan?"

"Sorry."

"The people you lost?"

"Yeah. Sometimes it's like I still expect to come in and see them – I almost made Owen a cup of coffee this afternoon when I made Jack some – it's like they're still here – "

"The spirit lives on – even after the body dies – "

"No it doesn't."

"Cynical and losing your soul – not a good combination – "

"I mean it. There's - **_nothing_** after this. We – we've had – I mean – I just know. There's nothing there. Just – darkness – " he hadn't meant to say that – maybe it was the combination of wine and lack of sleep –

But she seemed to understand, "Maybe it's just that when a person comes back they don't remember the things that we're not meant to know."

He wanted to tell her about Owen – but why should they both be depressed? "Maybe."

"Your Jack – he's not meant for the other side – apparently. If he can't die, he can't move on, so why should he see what lies beyond? I am correct in assuming he's died - but - come back - ?"

"Yes."

"And he says it's just dark?"

"Yes."

She wrapped her arms around his waist then, like she always used to and drew him close. "He's wrong. There are things out there even you can't imagine. I know you've never been one for the esoteric - but - trust me. There's more than nothing out there."

Ianto rested his head on her shoulder, accepting the embrace – the warmth of her touch – even if it didn't change what he knew, what he'd seen… _but maybe she's right about this job, …_ there were days when he felt like little pieces of him were being chipped away… "How did you ever do it?" He asked her then. "How did you ever sit through all of my stupid problems and not want to explode?"

"How do you mean?"

"Wendy – you were carrying around this big huge – well, maybe not problem really, but this big huge secret and – and you sat there and listened to me babble insipidly about – Aaron – and Terra – and – and all that stupid shit – "

She just smiled, "It wasn't stupid shit. It mattered to you."

"But you – your life – "

"Just because my 'problems' for lack of a better word were less ordinary, that didn't make yours less important."

"You really are my best friend – I have missed you so much –" he pulled her close again. Maybe it was losing so much that he needed her – needed somebody – someone to hang onto – someone to care about –

"I missed you too, Sweetheart."

"I know you have to go soon – but – "

"I promise, I'll stay in touch."

"Thank you." he shuddered, but held the tears back – Owen – Tosh – everything…

……………………………………………….

Ianto showed Wendy to the locker room so she could grab a shower and brush her teeth while he got some blankets and pillows from the storage closet – he made up the over stuffed sofa behind Tosh's workstation –

"Thanks," Wendy said quietly behind him; she'd changed into pajamas.

"My pleasure."

She smiled and leaned in, kissed his cheek – they both lingered a long moment before Ianto finally took his leave, dimming the lights as he went.

He collected his tie and jacket from where he'd left it and headed up to Jack's office, looking around the hub and trying to imagine what it must look like to Wendy.

Just as he was turning off the light Jack had left on for him in the office, he saw Myfanwy glide out of her alcove across the hub and head out for the night and he supposed that it really must seem extraordinary to an outsider, even someone as extraordinary as Wendy…It was only when Ianto had the lamp on Jack's desk turned off that he noticed the dim yellow light coming up from the hole in the floor. "Jack?" He called down quietly. Had he waited up?

"Hey," Jack leaned back to stare up at him. "Coming to bed?"

"Yeah," Ianto made his way down the ladder. "You didn't have to wait up, you know."

"I wanted to."

Ianto smiled – but still managed to miss the look on Jack's face – his own mind was already moving towards inevitability – things were shifting back towards normal and that meant he'd be heading home to his own flat soon…

"Did you get her settled in ok?" Jack asked quietly, still hanging back just a little.

"Yeah, I think so. I put her on the sofa behind – Tosh's station," he managed to get it out without choking.

Jack nodded. "I ah – are we ok?"

Ianto blinked. "Yeah – why do you ask?"

"I just – I wanted to make sure – with – everything – "

"Everything's fine," Ianto knew that wasn't quite the truth – but it would be. _Things will go back to normal…_ _I'll go back home…_

"Well – I guess we should get some sleep – "

"Yeah." He followed Jack into the bathroom – they took their turns at the sink brushing their teeth – and Ianto couldn't help but enjoy how this felt so normal…_like being with him in the kitchen…_ but one thing he was certain of, Jack Harkness didn't do domestic. It was still nice to look up at their reflections in the mirror and marvel at the normality of it all… _as long as one doesn't count the pterodactyl that's due for her monthly meds this week… _

Ianto slipped out of his cloths and folded them neatly with the rest of his dirty clothing. The pile of dirties was now bigger than the bag of cleans in the closet and each dirty shirt was one less excuse to stay…

He watched Jack slip out of his cloths too – toss them into the corner – Ianto rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a proper laundry hamper?"

"Yeah – somewhere. Why?"

"Don't you think you should put your dirty clothing into it?"

Jack just chuckled and shook his head; he crawled into bed and slid over so Ianto could follow.

Only Ianto couldn't help feeling slightly awkward – just for a moment – because this wasn't like before – Jack didn't need him here tonight, not like he had the other night and as drained as he was by the last few days, Ianto knew that he'd've been perfectly fine returning to his own flat – his own bed. But then Jack looked over at him – brought him close – and suddenly right here felt like the most natural place in the world to be… _Why did I have to fall so in love with you? _Ianto wondered.

"I was thinking," Jack begin then.

"Should I be frightened?"

"I hope not, but with me you never know," Jack grinned at him.

Ianto mirroed it and propped himself up on one elbow. Jack surprised him by the soft, gentle way he ran his fingertips over Ianto's cheek. "So what have you been thinking?" Ianto asked… _my Captain…_ his insides went warm when he thought of Jack as 'his.'

"When ah – when things settle back to normal – you know, what passes for normal around here – and we all – when we find a routine again – "

_When I go back to living at my flat… _Ianto didn't say it aloud, but he knew what Jack was saying. Tonight wouldn't be like the last night they'd slept together. Jack would still have dreams, most of them bad, but the worst of it was passed – he'd be able to sleep through the night on his own in a week – two at most – _he won't need me here… _Ianto finally forced himself to nod to indicate that he understood what Jack was saying.

"So I was thinking that – if you wanted – why don't you ah – I mean – you could leave a few things here – shirts – maybe a suit – toothbrush – just – just in case you ever want to stay over – once in a while. I know how you are about keeping up appearances," he ended with a very uncertain smile.

Ianto frowned. "I – I'm sorry – you're offering me a few feet of closet space?"

"And place for your toothbrush – a drawer – even your own laundry hamper. _Whatever you want_," that last came out _very_ quietly.

"I ah – I'm not sure what to say – " a thousand things were careening around his head… _just in case you ever want to stay over…_ that wasn't exactly an invitation but it was something – wasn't it? _Once in a while…_ Ianto reminded himself. A shirt. A suit. A row in Jack's sock drawer. _Like bloody domestic limbo…_ here but not here…

Jack shrugged, "It was just something I thought I'd throw out there – in case you might be interested." (And Ianto didn't catch the hurt expression on Jack's face, the one that Jack covered up quickly, anyway.)

"I ah – I don't know. I guess I could," he couldn't quite bring himself to say no, even if domestic limbo sounded like it should be one of the Circles in Dante's Inferno. "How ah – how much do you remember – " _of the last year? _But for Jack the last year hadn't happened a year ago, it had happened over nineteen hundred and twenty four years ago… _how the Hell can I expect him to remember anything that happened that long ago…? _

"How much do I remember about what?" Jack prompted in a cautious sounding tone.

"About the things that happened here – before – before what happened – last week. The last year or so for us," he fumbled his way through what he wanted to say.

A hint of a frown clouded over Jack's features, but it was gone almost as quickly as it arrived. "Us – or – _us?"_ he asked.

"Torchwood."

"Two thousand years is a long time," Jack admitted in that same cautious tone. "But – I remember the meat packing plant – that's what you were trying to get at earlier – remind me that we'd seen enough death. And I'm glad you did – we have. We **_all _**have."

"So – you remember – what happened before he took you away from us?" _from me… _Ianto couldn't say John's name, even in his head.

"I remember some things. Why?"

"I – I ah – I know I've never really been your first choice, Jack." _And if you've forgotten that maybe I should just be grateful and not remind you, but it was only a day for me… __**I**__ know where I stand, where I've always stood…_ "I don't know if you remember the conversation we had after Gwen's wedding, when I came back here – but – even with what you seemed to be implying that night – I still knew I wasn't really your first choice – that I'd never be your first choice. For the most part I haven't really minded making allowances." _And you really do make me happy…I'll take what you offer because I know it's all you really **can **offer – _

"Allowances?"

"For you and and that fifty-first century libido of yours."

Jack gave over half a smile, but it seemed forced, "Ah. Yeah. But ah – that doesn't mean I don't know how to take twenty-first century feelings into account, Ianto."

He didn't say anything because there wasn't anything to say that he didn't think he might regret later; it was the prospect of going back to normal that Ianto wasn't looking forward to. _But we will… Jack will hire a new medic, maybe someone to work computers – or someone like Suzie – minus the crazy streak – and then things will go back to normal...__**we'll**__ go back to normal… and eventually I'll take my shirt home because normal doesn't include me sleeping here… _and he realized that that would kill him even more than finding Jack with someone else because he knew Jack would be with someone else eventually, it was just who he was, Ianto accepted that. He accepted being second choice, the constant, comfortable lover… Jack's voice brought him up out of his thoughts:

"There were so many times over the last two thousand years when I wanted to give up. I got so tired I just couldn't fight my way back again – but it didn't matter, I'll _always_ get dragged back. The dirt and rock crushing down – I had no way to know how long I was ever alive – dead – there was no night or day – no way of measuring how one year fell into the next – no way of knowing for sure that anyone would ever come for me – and I'd think that maybe – maybe this was really how it was going to end. I_ wanted_ it to end, to just – just leave it to you and Gwen – Tosh – Owen – you'd find a way, you'd put the city right, I knew you would. I just wanted to – die – "

Ianto brushed the moisture from Jack's face, "But you made it back. You're here. You're safe – I'm sorry – " _sorry for being an ass…_

Jack shook his head. "I just – I wanted to tell you – I wanted you to know that those moments – the centuries – whenever it was the worst – that's when I'd hear your voice in the back of my mind telling me not to dare give up. You'd remind me that I promised not to go chasing off again without leaving you a note first," he smiled – Ianto smiled too – "I'd almost be able to feel your body next to me in the dark – I could smell you – and you kept me warm – sane. Fighting. I – I will _always _come back to you, Ianto."

"Always is an awful dangerous word for you to be bandying about."

"You're right. It is," Jack's voice was soft – hurt-filled. "Even after all this, I still sometimes forget how little I have to give anybody."

"You give me more than anyone else ever has," Ianto looked up at him – Jack's face was hard to read – pain – sorrow – a thousand other little things, things no mortal man could ever understand. "And I'm fine with being your second choice because no matter how many other people whose beds you fall into – how many of them are going to know you like I do? How many will know when your birthday is or how you take your coffee?"

"You're more to me than someone who makes the coffee."

"I know."

"You weren't always my first choice," Jack admitted then. "But – the last few days – all the little things – I just thought – "

"Offering somebody room in your sock drawer is a lot more than offering him a place to put his socks."

"I know that. And I _am_ capable of taking relationships seriously."

"What ah – what exactly does 'serious' mean to you? Is it a few feet of space in your closet – first dibs on Saturday night – ?"

"It means – it means whatever you want it to mean. "

"I hardly think you're the settling down type, Jack."

"Well I'd hate to preclude the chance of any future threesomes – foursomes – sextets maybe – " Jack offered up one of those smirky little smiles (although it was clearly a forced effort.)

"When was the last time you were with someone else?"

"Honest answer?"

"Yes, please."

"About a week before I went chasing off to the end of the Universe with the Doctor."

Ianto blinked - that meant - the last year -

"You?" Jack asked him.

"While you were gone with your Doctor."

"Was it any good?" Jack asked in a forced-sounding tone.

Ianto shrugged, "It was drinks - dinner - "

"That sounds like dating."

"Probably becuase it was."

"You were _dating _someone?"

"You don't have to sound that shocked."

"When did you stop seeing - ?"

"Him," Ianto supplied the appropriate pronoun. "After you came back."

"Why?"

"Why - did I stop seeing him -?"

Jack nodded, clearly dumbstruck.

"Because you came back."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"It didn't seem important. And it wasn't serious."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No. I would have - eventually. But you came back," he said, before Jack could ask the obvious next question. "Are you upset?"

"No - no, just - surprised."

"I know you tend to think you know everything about me, but I am capable of - existing - on my own."

"I never thought otherwise. But I have taken you for granted and I'm sorry."

"It's all right. But ah what's - what's the longest you've ever stayed with somebody? You know - stuck around - ?" Ianto asked in a less scathing tone than he'd asked the last question (even though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer, Jack had started this, so he might as well ask while he had the opportunity.)

"There are things I've never shared with anyone else – things I couldn't explain, like why I wasn't getting any older while they were – "

"So your leaving was an act of kindness then?" But why should Jack stay and watch someone grow old and gray when he was still – vibrant. Alive.

"It was an act of cowardice because I didn't know how to tell someone that they were going to die but I was going to go on living. I wish I was just like you – mortal – only if I was, I never would have met you – and I can't imagine my life without you in it, even if it's just for the next sixty or eighty years."

Ianto's breath caught in his throat as the words sank in because it sounded like Jack was offering a whole lot more than just a few feet of space in his closet…. When Ianto spoke again, his tone was quiet: "I couldn't ever expect you to change who you are – but would you promise me one thing?"

"If I can."

"I – I don't expect you to – to remember every little detail – but just – in a thousand years' time – in two thousand – in ten – just – try not to forget me completely – ?"

"I could never forget you – "

"Yes you could. You're going to live forever and you're right, I've only got sixty or eighty more years – if I'm lucky – we both know what this job is like. But – but to me that still feels like a long time only I know it's nothing to you and I just – I don't want you to forget that I ever existed. Even if it all you give me is a spare thought every couple of hundred years – just – don't forget you ever knew me."

Jack pulled him in close, "You have my word – I will never,_ ever_ forget you."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen:**

**Closet Space**

* * *

Ianto woke with the warmth of Jack's last kiss still burning in his mouth and smiled; he rolled over and discovered that he was alone in Jack's bed… he knew he shouldn't be all that surprised to find Jack not there. _Probably already in his office checking over-night rift activity or catching up on paperwork because just like dinosaurs and aliens, no matter how many of them we beat senseless, lock up or blow up, the bureaucrats and their tape keeps coming back…_ and although Jack _did _sleep – snore – roll around, hog the blankets and everything else mere mortal men did, he didn't do it for more than about four hours in any given day. Looking at the clock, Ianto realized that he hadn't had much more than that himself… _great. So he's going to be chipper and I'm going to be dragging… _Just the same, he knew he'd never be able to drift back off again now that he was awake; as it was, it was nearly two hours past when he usually got up… _but I don't typically go to bed at two o'clock in the morning on a work night after having drunk half a bottle of wine… got to remember not to do **that **again any time real soon… _at least he wasn't hung over (or at lest it wasn't anything a big glass of water, a couple of asperin and cup of coffee wouldn't cure.)

He rolled over, untangled himself from the satin sheets and noticed that his neat pile of dirty shirts was no longer sitting on the chair near the closet. Jack's heap of dirty clothing was no longer in the corner, either. Ianto frowned – he had a hard time picturing Jack at the corner launderette at seven o'clock in the morning… _and if he puts his whites in with my red shirt…_ still, the image of Jack in pink t-shirts was enough to make Ianto almost wish Jack _had_ nipped down to the laundry to do a bit of early morning washing… still chuckling over the thought, Ianto made his way into the bathroom – and stopped.

Sitting right where a small table had previously sat, was a proper clothes hamper. He peered inside – the proper clothes hamper was filled with what a normal person might expect – his red shirt. Jack's blue one. Jack's t-shirts and trousers. Socks that could belong to either of them - underwear that was definitely his -

"Is one enough, do you think –? Or would you prefer it if we kept our underwear separated?" Jack asked at his elbow – Ianto had only just barely heard him creep in. (He was dressed, but he hadn't put on a shirt yet, just a t-shirt, which meant he really had been up for a while, just not long enough to get ready for work.)

Ianto turned a raised eyebrow at his Captain, "I was under the impression that our underwear hadn't been separated for quite some time now."

Jack flashed a merry grin and handed over the cup of coffee he'd been holding, "Wendy's still asleep," he said. "I checked in on her – she's out cold."

Ianto wasn't surprised. It had been a rough day for everyone. He sipped Jack's extra dark brew, and set it down on the sink. "Next time wake me. I'll make the coffee."

Jack just smiled some more and slid a little closer – Ianto returned the kiss – then shoo'ed Jack out of the bathroom so he could attend to morning necessities (including dumping Jack's dreadful brew down the sink…. _Which should take care of that slow drainage problem I noticed yesterday…_ just the same, Ianto made a mental note to pick up drain cleaner on his next run up to Tesco.)

Jack was making up the bed when he came out again – it was strange to see Jack doing domestic. He stood in the doorway between bath and bed rooms watching – it was a particularly nice picture Jack painted when he leaned over the bed to tuck in one of the corners closest to the wall… Jack's physique was truly a beautiful thing to watch in motion…._especially in those pants…_ "So – erm – about last night – " Ianto began a little awkwardly as Jack straightened back up.

"I hope you realize that's my least favourite way to start a conversation," Jack teased – but Ianto could see the serious expression in his eyes, too. "So – " he sat down on the freshly made bed. "About last night – ?"

Ianto sat down next to him, "I just – want to know exactly what we're really talking about here, Jack." Was this some new arrangement or was it _just _a row in Jack's sock drawer – ? Was the hamper just to keep him from moaning about clothes scattered about, or did Jack actually mean something by it - ?

Jack took a long moment to think (or at least Ianto assumed he was thinking that over) before giving him pretty much the same line he'd given last night: "We're talking about whatever you want to be talking about –"

"You can't keep dodging out of answering the question. It's not fair."

Jack took in a breath - let it out. "I know. I've never been very good at this part."

Ianto considered for a moment before speaking, too: "The last year – for – me – here – "

"You don't have to keep qualifying that," Jack's tone was hard to interpret, but the one thing Ianto was certain he did hear was the weight of all those years bearing down.

He slid his hand over Jack's; strong fingers curling into his and Ianto felt that rush of warmth overtake his insides again. "I just wanted to – " _to ask why you didn't end up in anybody else's bed…_ it was a well established fact that Jack Harkness would jump into bed with anything that had a postal code – in fact, he probably wasn't even that picky. So Ianto wanted to know why for almost a whole year, Jack hadn't been with anyone else (never mind that he hadn't either, he had the excuse of being a mere mortal who actually needed six to eight hours sleep a night.) But maybe the question burning in Ianto's brain was as unfair as Jack trying to dodge the issue; maybe it didn't matter what Jack had or hadn't done or why, not now, not after the last week…_the last two thousand years…_ "I ah – that is – I wanted to say that I'm _not_ asking you to change who you are – but if I've moved up to being your first choice – I'm quite happy to accept that. _If,_ just for clarity's sake, that's really what you're saying – ?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying. I guess I just didn't know how to say it," Jack met his gaze at last (Ianto almost missed the look of relief on his face.)

"Good thing you have me around then," Ianto teased him – he leaned in and Jack met the kiss half way… "So – just out of curiosity – how does it work – relationships, I mean – where you come from?"

"It's not that much different from the way it is here – now. You people just get a little less uptight over the next few thousand years – "

"If ah – if you friend is any example, I'd say that's an understatement, Jack."

Jack chuckled, "The ah – the Time Agency tended to attract certain personality types – "

"Self-centered hedonistic assholes? Or could any psychopath join up?"

"I'm not sure I like that description."

"You weren't meant to," but Ianto softened his words with the kiss he gave to Jack.

"He's not all bad, Ianto," Jack insisted quietly, several long moments later.

"You really did love him, didn't you?"

"It was a long time ago. I was a different person then."

Ianto just nodded. John Hart was one of those things he was going to have to accept – _just as long as he stays in Jack's past…_ "I suppose we've all made our fair share of mistakes."

"And that doesn't change when humanity gets out past this solar system – humans are still complicated – even at the end of the Universe."

"You really did go that far, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"It wasn't really that great," Jack slide closer, moving his hand slowly up Ianto's bare leg, a move he knew from experience would send shivers up and down his Welshman's spine…

"I guess we – can at least – have marks for – consistency – though – " Ianto's difficulty in forming a coherent sentence was no accident, and he knew it. Jack knew just how to touch him and apparently two thousand years hadn't changed that.

Jack laid Ianto back on the covers and slid on top of him, straddling his body and enjoying all over again how good it felt to be this close… he'd missed this so much… _missed you so much…_ Jack leaned in and kissed him then, long and hard… he found his young lover more than receptive… reciprocal. It was going to be quite a while before they got back out of bed again because Jack was determined to re-acquaint himself with _**every**_ inch of Ianto's body and no one had_ ever_ accused Jack Harkness of being an inattentive lover…

Ianto shuddered and arched his back as Jack found that soft spot on his neck at the same time as one hand caressed his hip… "You know, this really isn't fair," Ianto murmured as Jack continued kissing and biting his way around Ianto's neck.

"What isn't?" Jack's words were warm in his ear.

"Well, here I am, completely naked – and you've still got clothes on."

Jack chuckled, but didn't stop kissing until he'd made his way all the way down Ianto's chest, right to where he wanted to be… "Life isn't fair," he said in between doing things with his lips and tongue that he knew would make Ianto squirm, "Or have you forgotten what I did to you the first time we did this," in a sudden movement, he had Ianto's arms pinned at his side.

"Oh God – no – " Ianto shuddered again and struggled as Jack's mouth enveloped him again – it wasn't that so much that suddenly had him shaking all over, it was the fact that Jack had completely mastered the art of taking him right up to the edge – and then leaving him there. Over and over and over again until he was sure he was going to go mad… "You – realize – that – Gwen – and – and – Liz – "

"Won't be in for at least two hours," Jack offered up a lascivious smile.

"Oh God."

Jack chuckled, "I could always stop – " his smile turned to one of pure (if utterly unbelievable) innocence.

"Do that and I'll put a weevil in your closet."

Jack just chuckled a little more, "Than maybe it's a good thing it's your closet too."

And at that Ianto just closed his eyes and stopped fighting – although he did make a silent resolve that just as soon as he could think again, he would come up with some very creative way to get back at Jack for this…

……………………………………………

The hub was quiet when Gwen got in – after a fleeting moment of panic, she found Wendy by the cappuccino maker. "Oh – hi – " she began, lamely. _Right, could I be any less obvious… _However:

"Can I get you a cup?" is all Wendy said, in a shy, reserved sort of tone.

It really was hard to believe she was the same thing that they'd shot at – that had taken a full clip from both her and Jack – Wendy had been left without so much as a scar from the lead bullets… "Erm – sure – thanks," Gwen finally remembered that there was a question waiting to be answered. _And Jack trusted her enough to let her stay last night… _She reminded herself, forcing an awkward smile.

"What would you like?"

"Hmm? Oh – coffee, right. Whatever, I'm not fussy."

"Well you've got an expert coffee barista at your disposal – might as well make proper use of me – " Wendy gave over what seemed like a genuine smile.

"Double mocha-ccino – please – ?" _my God, I shot her and she's making me a coffee…_ that somehow seemed so wrong.

Wendy just smiled another shy little smile and went to work. The silence that feel between them felt awkward as Gwen tried not to stare at her – at those hands – her face –

"Hard to imagine, isn't it?"

"Hmm – what is?"

"That I'm not just like you – "

"You're not so different."

"Yes I am. When you look at me all you see is the other skin – the 'monster.'" Her tone wasn't harsh or even angry.

Gwen quickly found something else to look at. "So – erm –did you sleep all right last night?"

"Well enough."

"I have the hardest time sleeping in strange places – " Gwen found herself struggling not to let another awkward gap in the conversation develop.

"Well – there you are," Wendy handed over the cup.

"Oh that smells like heaven. Jack said you were the source of Ianto's coffee magic."

Wendy chuckled, "I'm not sure I'd call it magic – "

Gwen sipped the cup. "I would. So – ah – are they up – ?" or at least she'd assumed that Ianto was here – his car was still in the lot –

Wendy looked away quickly –

"What is it?" that moment of panic returned again – until Gwen realized Wendy was blushing.

She cleared her throat, "I ah – I think – they both seemed to have forgotten what I kept saying about having keener senses than humans – "

"What – oh – oh! Oh my – ! They aren't – right now – ?" Gwen quickly quieted her giggle, but was aware that she was blushing too.

Wendy seemed to be stifling a laugh as well, "They are. Right now."

"You can actually _hear_ them?" Gwen couldn't hear a thing beyond the normal sounds of the hub.

"It's muffled – but it's more than I wanted to ever know about Ianto – "

"Oh God – come on – let's – let's at least go further away from the office. Jack's rooms are under it," she added to the quizzical look on Wendy's face. She settled them into the furthest seating area she could find – "Any better?"

"A bit. Thanks," she added with another one of those shy smiles.

"I walked in on them once," Gwen confided then. "Right up there," she pointed. "It was after hours and it was my fault, I suppose for just popping round like that unannounced – but really, who expects to find their boss shagging in the office – ?" she grinned, "I don't think I have ever been been so embarrassed in my whole life – I mean – most of the time they're both so private and there they were – "

"Flashing their privates?" Wendy inquired with a wicked grin that Gwen couldn't help but laugh at.

"And_ then_ Jack went and invited me in – " she felt her cheeks warming.

"He wasn't serious –?"

"Oiy – half the time I don't know whether to believe half of what he says – but even only believing half of it, I think he'll take on just about anything with a pulse."

Wendy's expression darkened a little –

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean to imply – "

"No. No, it's none of my business – Ianto's a grown up – "

"And whatever they have – it's none of my business either, but the looks Jack gives him when he thinks nobody's looking – but you still look at Ianto and see some scared kid, don't you?" Gwen asked – she'd gotten the story from Jack yesterday…and he was right, all that stuff had to count for something, especially since Wendy wasn't what they thought, she'd honestly always been this way…_it's just hard not to see the creature…_

"He was so – so sad looking, dripping wet in the rain – "

"Wasn't that taking an awful chance – bringing in some stranger –? I mean – even – even if you didn't have your secret – he could have been anybody – some nut-job – "

"When I was seventeen, somebody took me in – not – not one of my people – a regular, ordinary human woman – she fed me, let me sleep on her couch – helped me get a job – if it weren't for her – people like her – like Ianto – I might hate humans the same way Collin Parker did."

"I'm sorry – sorry that we're the way we are sometimes – "

"We're not any better. And – maybe you're right, maybe we're really not so different, distrusting what we don't understand – it's just ironic that we don't even understand ourselves."

The alarm sounded then as Liz came into the hub… shortly there-after Jack and Ianto came down from Jack's office, apparently not even pretending that Ianto hadn't stayed the night (Ianto was straightening his tie as he came down the steps…) and Gwen smiled just a little to herself because they both looked better than they had in days…

………………………………………

"Well – that about wraps it up," Liz said, double checking the images on the computer screen. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked as Wendy slid off the table from the MRI.

"It wasn't. But – I'm surprised."

"At?"

"How can your testing be complete if you've only looked at my human skin?" She cast a sidelong glance up at Ianto, who'd been hovering most of the day – both he and Liz understood what she wasn't saying, were they afraid of her changing, afraid of the other form.

"I suppose I've been trying to avoid playing into your fears," Liz told her honestly. "So I'll leave it up to you."

"I want to understand this as much as you do now," Wendy told her.

"All right – why don't you take a breather while I get set up –? It's going to take me a few minutes anyway."

"Thank you."

"No – thank you, dear – for allowing us this opportunity."

"Can I get you a coffee?" Ianto asked then.

Wendy smiled up at him, "I'd love one, thanks – "

"Liz – some tea?"

"That would be lovely – thank you, Ianto."

He smiled…_tea boy…_ it had a less offensive sound than it used to… _tea boy with a gun…_ he thought with a deepening smile.

"You really didn't have to hang around here all day," Wendy said as she joined him at the top of the stair.

"I didn't want you to feel all alone."

………………………………………

Jack l glanced at his watch as soon as the alarm sounded, announcing that someone was coming down the stairs from the tourist office.

One – forty-eight - the minute hand ticked over. Gwen had gone home at seven, Liz had left him at midnight. _Well, I know it isn't Gwen, so it must be Liz... _Maybe she got to her hotel, got to thinking about something and had to come back to do one more thing because she was the sort of person to let that 'one more thing' nag at her all night long if she didn't do something about it. He smiled... for all she griped about the Doctor, Liz was a lot like him at times.

He trotted down the steps from his office with a witty remark about how she just couldn't get enough of a certain dashing captain, playing just on the edge of his tongue – but it wasn't Liz. "Ianto – ?" Jack asked. After Liz and Wendy had finished, he'd given Ianto the rest of the day off, telling him not to worry about coming back until tomorrow. _Late_, tomorrow, so he could spend some time with Wendy before she left Cardiff. That made Ianto about the last person he expected to see right now.

The young Welshman favoured him with a shy smile and (unless it was the lighting) a slight blush in his cheeks. But what Jack noticed most was how good he looked – not just good in the jeans and seersucker shirt (with two buttons undone) and his wind-breaker unzipped – but he looked _good_, as if a couple of years (or at least a week) had been removed.

"What are you doing back?" Jack wondered aloud.

"Hope you don't mind my – " Ianto's tone was as shy as his smile.

Jack smiled, "Why would I mind – but – "

"She caught the last train out. London – then from there to Kilkerry – she promised she'd phone as soon as she got in. Er – assuming werewolves have phones."

Jack chuckled and crossed the rest of the distance between them, "So – ?"

"So?"

"So – why'd you come back here tonight?"

"I knew you'd still be up – even if you weren't – I thought – you might like some company – " it wasn't quite a question.

But Jack caught the nervous flicker in Ianto's eye – the blush in his cheek that most definitely was not the lighting. "I'd love some company. You ah – tired – or – ?"

"Naked hide and seek?"

Jack grinned at him, "I have something else in mind. Grab a couple of blankets out of the storage closet and meet me up on the roof."

Ianto refrained (barely) from rolling his eyes…_you and your roofs… _just the same, he couldn't help but be intrigued. It had been a while since Jack's antics had taken them out of the hub proper.

Ianto made his way up to the roof-top wondering, for the hundredth time, what it was with Jack and heights. "Still – can't argue with the view," Ianto gazed out over the bay – the city. There were still dark patches dotting the cityscape, where things were still under repair but it was lovely – he looked up too, wondering just where it was out there that Jack was born – would be born – in three thousand years' time…. _and I wonder what he really sees in me…_ because the wonders that Jack must have seen out there – the things he must have experienced – and he came here, to Cardiff, to wait for his Doctor… _and then he came back…_

Ianto spread out the blankets, one on top of the other, picnic style and sat down to wait – it wasn't long before the roof-door swung open again – it was Jack. He had a bottle of wine, two glasses – another blanket – and the spy-glass.

"Thought it might be a good night to put it to use," Jack told him of the spy-glass; then he handed the bottle to Ianto, asking him to do the honours. Ianto felt the rush of blood return to his cheeks. It got worse when Jack settled in next to him, the extra blanket draped across both their shoulders. "Oh – almost forgot," Jack grinned and fished his ipod and portable speakers out of a coat pocket.

Ianto groaned.

"Now don't start – I downloaded some stuff off you laptop."

"You've been at my computer again?"

"Thought you liked it when I played with your key board."

"No. I don't." Despite his sour tone, Ianto couldn't help the grin playing across his face. He uncorked the bottle and poured a glass for each of them while Jack set up the music – true to his word the first song was something from Ianto's system.

"Of course I did mix in some of my own stuff in there," Jack added with another wicked grin; they didn't actually disagree on music that horribly, it was just something Ianto liked to give him a hard time about.

"Should I even ask?"

"Glen Miller – Sinatra – oh yeah and something I picked up from an offworld transmission one night – "

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Would I kid about a thing like that?"

"With you?" Ianto asked.

Jack just chuckled and accepted the glass Ianto handed him. _The end is where we start from… _"To the survivors," he said quietly, raising his glass.

"And to those who didn't survive."

"And to those who didn't," Jack agreed.

Ianto joined him in the toast. They sat a while quietly enjoying one another's company until one of Jack's Glen Miller pieces came over the tiny speakers and Jack stood up - Ianto blinked up at him - Jack offered his hand. "May I have this dance?"

"You are completely mad at times, I hope you know that," Ianto accepted his hand anyway.

"You have no idea," Jack teased, resting one hand on Ianto's waist, easily taking the 'lead'.

"Yes I do," the younger man's tone, however, was quite serious.

Jack regarded him for a moment. "You know - I think maybe you do," he pulled Ianto closer, so much closer than he'd held him the night of Gwen's wedding, savouring Ianto's warmth against him - his body - his scent. The way Ianto rested his head on Jack's shoulder... as the piece ended, Jack leaned in and kissed him; Ianto met it half way. Jack kissed harder - wanting to smoe how make up for the last two thousand years in one night ...

"If you keep this up – " Ianto warned him softly, "And you're not going to put that spy-glass to use." He blushed bright red – he honestly hadn't meant anything by that –

Jack just smiled, that wicked, wicked smile of his, "Didn't you say something say something once about me being good on roofs?"

"Yeah, I think I might've."

Jack just leaned in and kissed him again – more lightly this time – when he pulled away, he picked up the spy-glass.

"You ever actually use one of those before?" Ianto took a deeper drink of his wine than he'd intended. He could still taste Jack in his mouth. It wasn't particularly unpleasant, but it was making it difficult for him to think.

"A couple of times – look," Jack passed it over then, "You can see the Galilean moons – around Jupiter – "

Ianto followed the direction he was pointing. All he could make out was a bright disk with four bright specks around it – but he thought about the pictures he'd seen in books – the trip to the planetarium when he was younger – and realized that the man sitting next to him might very well have seen the real thing with his own two eyes. "It's hard to imagine what it must really be like to be out there – "

"It's incredible. All those planets – the people – civilizations – all that stuff in between planets – gas clouds – stars being born – dying – in two thousand years, the human empire is going to span three galaxies."

"Will anyone ever even remember Earth?"

"Yes."

"Where – where were you - or will be, I guess – born - ? " Ianto asked as they sat back down, pulling the blanket around their shoulders for warmth against the chill of the wind coming off the bay.

"You can't see it from here. Even with the biggest telescope anyone has come up with yet. But it's that way I think," he pointed off towards the bay – up – "About a hundred trillion light years from here there's a planet with a bright yellow sun and long sandy shores surrounded by a vast sea that is teaming with life forms the likes of which no one on this planet has _ever_ dreamed of – beautiful creatures whose songs echo through the night – and in three thousand years, I'll be born there." He smiled – but then his face clouded over then – Ianto took his hand, held it – held him. He understood – Jack – Gray – the whatever they were that had killed Jack's father – "I remember my mother taking me out with her one night – she came into my room and woke me up in the middle of the night because they were near by – singing and wanted to give me something to hang onto – a reason to carry on. I remember – I remember her saying that no matter what, as long as I could find something beautiful to hang onto – it would be all right. We could carry on despite what had happened."

"She sounds extraordinary."

"She was. Will be," he smiled and drained his glass – Ianto refilled his – and his own as well.

"What ah – what did she do – what _do _people do in three thousand years – ?"

"She was your basic outer space marine biologist," he gave over half a wry grin. "Humans never stop exploring, Ianto – you never stop wondering – questioning – wanting to know what's around the next corner, on the next world – and there's so much out there to see."

"Doesn't it ever get hard – being stuck here – one planet – one time – ?"

Jack gave him a long, measured look before answering: "There are things right here – right now – worth sticking around for. Besides, out there – it's not going anywhere, but human life is so –_ so_ short."

"What's going to happen to you – when the universe runs out – you said you were at the end of it once – with your Doctor – it does end eventually – ?"

"The stars fly away from each other – everything just – expands into oblivion and if I really make it that far – I – I have no idea. Maybe I'll get to see what comes after this, the next Big Bang," he shrugged. "Maybe I'll get to see what happens when everything here is just so much star dust."

"Well. It's a long way off," Ianto flashed an almost apologetic smile for having brought it up.

"Yeah," Jack agreed, pulling him closer; he laid back bringing his young Welshman with him, kissing him long and hard… _but no matter how long or how far, I'll make sure I never forget you… _he promised silently.

**...**

**_Fin..._**

**_at least for now_ :)**

**...**

**Again, I want to thank everyone who reviewed this or put it on your fave/alert list! I really appreciate all the wonderful kind words.**


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